Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 15, NWS Raleigh, NC

March 20, 1998Orange County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 20, 1998, 6:56 PM EST for Orange County, North Carolina. It was in force for 29 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 20, 1998, 6:56 PM EST (23:56 UTC)
Expired
Mar 20, 1998, 7:25 PM EST
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Orange County, NC

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Mar 20, 1:00 PM ESTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 131 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 1998-03-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 1998-03-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 179 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
595 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
179 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
234 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, Mar 20, 6:02 PM EST, 54 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
602 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998

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

0555 PM    ASHEBORO                  NC   .75 INCH HAIL
03/20/98   RANDOLPH                       THREE INCHES OF DIME SIZE
                                          HAIL WAS REPORTED ON THE
                                          GROUND BY RANDOLPH COUNTY
                                          EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.
Local storm report, Mar 20, 6:04 PM EST, 52 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
604 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998

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

0555 PM    ASHEBORO                  NC   .75 INCH HAIL
03/20/98   RANDOLPH                       THREE INCHES OF DIME SIZE
                                          HAIL WAS REPORTED ON THE
                                          GROUND 8 MILES SOUTH OF
                                          ASHEBORO...COUNTY 911...
Local storm report, Mar 20, 6:04 PM EST, 52 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
604 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998

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

0555 PM    ASHEBORO                  NC   .75 INCH HAIL
03/20/98   RANDOLPH                       THREE INCHES OF DIME SIZE
                                          HAIL WAS REPORTED ON THE
                                          GROUND 8 MILES SOUTH OF
                                          ASHEBORO...COUNTY 911...
Local storm report, Mar 20, 6:38 PM EST, 18 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
638 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998

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

0237 PM    LEWISVILLE                NC   .5 INCH HAIL
03/20/98   FORSYTH                        REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
                                          OFFICIALS

0318 PM    WINSTON SALEM             NC   1 INCH HAIL
03/20/98   FORSYTH                        SHERIFF DEPT. REPORTED
                                          QUARTER INCH HAIL IN
                                          WINSTON SALEM.

0320 PM    WINSTON SALEM             NC   1 INCH HAIL
03/20/98   FORSYTH                        REPORTED BY FORSYTH COUNTY
                                          SHERIFF

0548 PM    PISGAH                    NC   .75 INCH HAIL
03/20/98   RANDOLPH                       RANDOLPH COUNTY EMERGENCY
                                          MANAGEMENT REPORTED DIME
                                          SIZE HAIL IN THE PISGAH
                                          COMMUNITY

0555 PM    ASHEBORO                  NC   .75 INCH HAIL
03/20/98   RANDOLPH                       THREE INCHES OF DIME SIZE
                                          HAIL WAS REPORTED ON THE
                                          GROUND BY RANDOLPH COUNTY
                                          EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.

0616 PM    HOLLY SPGS                NC   TORNADO
03/20/98   WAKE                           SKYWARN OBSERVER REPORTED
                                          A TORNADO ON THE GROUND
                                          NEAR WILBURN ROAD IN HOLLY
                                          SPRINGS MOVING TOWARD APEX

0620 PM    HOLLY SPGS                NC   TORNADO
03/20/98   WAKE                           SKYWARN OBSERVER REPORTED
                                          TORNADO ON THE GROUND AT
                                          WILBURN RD. IN HOLLY
                                          SPRINGS MOVING TOWARD APEX
Local storm report, Mar 20, 6:43 PM EST, 13 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
643 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998

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

0640 PM    GARNER                    NC   TORNADO
03/20/98   WAKE                           SKYWARN OBSERVER REPORTED
                                          TORNADO ON THE GROUND IN
                                          GARNER NEAR MECHANICAL
                                          BLVD AND HIGHWAY 70
Local storm report, Mar 20, 6:54 PM EST, 2 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
654 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998

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

0649 PM    DURHAM                    NC   TORNADO
03/20/98   DURHAM                         *** 1 INJ ***
                                          DURHAM COUNTY 911 REPORTED
                                          A HOUSE DESTROYED AT 5706
                                          BAHAMA ROAD.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 20, 2:35 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHForsyth30 min
Mar 20, 3:17 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHForsyth33 min
Mar 20, 3:36 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHDavidson34 min
Mar 20, 3:54 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHRandolph31 min
Mar 20, 4:15 PM ESTTornado WarningRAHPerson30 min
Mar 20, 4:20 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHGuilford35 min
Mar 20, 4:41 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHAlamance34 min
Mar 20, 5:27 PM ESTTornado WarningRAHPerson33 min
Mar 20, 5:33 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHRandolph32 min
Mar 20, 5:58 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHDurham, Orange32 min
Mar 20, 6:00 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHWake35 min
Mar 20, 6:26 PM ESTTornado WarningRAHChatham, Wake34 min
Mar 20, 6:28 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHAlamance32 min
Mar 20, 6:44 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHGranville31 min
Mar 20, 6:50 PM ESTTornado WarningRAHGranville35 min
Mar 20, 6:56 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHFranklin29 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.