Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 124, NWS Raleigh, NC

May 26, 1998Durham County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 26, 1998, 4:23 AM EDT for Durham County, North Carolina. It was in force for 32 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
May 26, 1998, 4:23 AM EDT (08:23 UTC)
Expired
May 26, 1998, 4:55 AM EDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Durham County, NC

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 26, 4:27 AM EDTHail 1.75Durham, NC

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 26, 12:30 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 92 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 1998-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 323 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 1998-05-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 85 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
323 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-166 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1675 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
85 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
281 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

079 
WUUS1 KRDU 260825 RRA
SVRRDU
NCC063-260855-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
423 AM EDT TUE MAY 26 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  DURHAM COUNTY

* UNTIL 455 AM EDT

* AT 425 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ONE MILE SOUTHEAST OF DOWNTOWN DURHAM...
  MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  DURHAM AT 430 AM

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM STAY INDOORS AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
THERE ARE REPORTS OF GOLF BALL HAIL WITH THIS STORM.
RLH

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 26, 3:25 AM EDT, 58 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
325 AM EDT TUE MAY 26 1998

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0315 AM    GREENSBORO                NC   .75 INCH HAIL
05/26/98   GUILFORD                       REPORTED BY UNC GREENSBORO
                                          POLICE

The office that day

Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 26, 3:04 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHGuilford31 min
May 26, 4:44 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHFranklin, Wake31 min
May 26, 7:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHForsyth30 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Carolina, 1998Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1998

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.