Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 22, NWS Raleigh, NC
NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 20, 1998, 8:24 PM EST for Durham County, North Carolina. It was in force for 31 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
- Mar 20, 1998, 8:24 PM EST (01:24 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 20, 1998, 8:55 PM EST
- In force
- 31 min
- Issued by
- NWS Raleigh, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Durham County, NC
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 20, 8:30 PM EST | Hail 1 | Durham, NC | Durham Emergency Management reported quarter sized hail near the Durham and Orange county line on I-85. |
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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 20, 7:00 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 1.4 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 486 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -41 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 840 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 64 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 82 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 123 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 1.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
500 WUUS1 KRDU 210125 RRA SVRRDU NCC063-210155- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 824 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR DURHAM COUNTY * UNTIL 855 PM EST * THIS STORM WILL AFFECT: ALL OF DURHAM COUNTY...ESPECIALLY AROUND THE CITY OF DURHAM * BASIS FOR WARNING: AT 825 PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVING FROM ORANGE COUNTY INTO DURHAM COUNTY MOVING NORTHEAST NEAR 25 MPH. BECAUSE OF THE FREQUENT HEAVY RAIN FROM STORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...FLASH FLOODING IS ALSO LIKELY IN ADDITION TO STRONG GUSTY WIND...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...AND HAIL. ALTHOUGH NO TORNADOES HAVE BEEN DETECTED WITH THIS STORM, A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT. BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE DANGERS OF FLASH FLOODING. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...RADIO OR TELEVISION FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS SEVERE WEATHER SITUATION.
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, 6:38 PM EST, 1 hour 46 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 APEXLocal storm report, Mar 20, 6:43 PM EST, 1 hour 41 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 70Local storm report, Mar 20, 6:54 PM EST, 1 hour 30 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.Local storm report, Mar 20, 6:57 PM EST, 1 hour 27 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
657 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0646 PM RALEIGH NC 1 INCH HAIL
03/20/98 WAKE SKYWARN OBSERVER REPORTED
QUARTER SIZE HAIL AT MINI
CITY ON CAPITAL BLVDLocal storm report, Mar 20, 7:01 PM EST, 1 hour 23 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
701 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0650 PM WAKE FOREST NC .75 INCH HAIL
03/20/98 WAKE SKYWARN OBSERVER REPORTED
DIME SIZE HAIL IN WAKE
FORESTLocal storm report, Mar 20, 7:23 PM EST, 1 hour 1 minute before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
723 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0721 PM LOUISBURG NC 2 INCH HAIL
03/20/98 FRANKLIN SKYWARN OBSERVER REPORTED
SILVER DOLLAR SIZE HAIL 7
MILES SOUTH OF LOUISBURG.The office that day
Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 20, 7:05 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Durham, Wake | 30 min |
| Mar 20, 7:24 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Franklin | 31 min |
| Mar 20, 7:34 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Granville, Person | 46 min |
| Mar 20, 7:36 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Chatham | 34 min |
| Mar 20, 7:49 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Warren | 46 min |
| Mar 20, 7:58 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Orange | 47 min |
| Mar 20, 8:02 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Hoke, Scotland | 48 min |
| Mar 20, 8:24 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | RAH | Durham | 31 min |
| Mar 20, 8:41 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Harnett | 34 min |
| Mar 20, 8:46 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Granville | 49 min |
| Mar 20, 8:54 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Durham, Wake | 36 min |
| Mar 20, 9:08 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | RAH | Orange | 32 min |
| Mar 20, 9:08 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Orange | 32 min |
| Mar 20, 9:20 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Cumberland | 20 min |
| Mar 20, 9:27 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Vance | 33 min |
| Mar 20, 9:35 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Durham | 30 min |
| Mar 20, 9:52 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Johnston, Wake | 18 min |
| Mar 20, 10:21 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Nash, Wilson | 34 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.