Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 236, NWS Raleigh, NC

July 20, 1998Stanly County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 20, 1998, 8:45 PM EDT for Stanly County, North Carolina. It was in force for 45 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
Jul 20, 1998, 8:45 PM EDT (00:45 UTC)
Expired
Jul 20, 1998, 9:30 PM EDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Stanly County, NC

The radar

The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 164 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:44 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 20, 9:00 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Albemarle, NCSeveral trees were downed by strong thunderstorm winds 15 miles southwest of the city of Albemarle near NC-24/27.

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 nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 91 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 1998-07-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 14 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 1998-07-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 8 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
14 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-46 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2234 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
76 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

925 
WUUS1 KRDU 210046 RRA
SVRRDU
NCC167-210130-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
845 PM EDT MON JUL 20 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  STANLY COUNTY

* UNTIL 930 PM EDT

* AT 842 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM FIVE MILES NORTH AND WEST OF ALBEMARLE...
  MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  ALBEMARLE AT 850 PM

DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY. OTHER STORMS IN THE AREA
HAVE A HISTORY OF DAMAGING WIND WITH DOWNED TREES. GO INSIDE A
STURDY BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS

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, Jul 20, 6:35 PM EDT, 2 hours 10 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
635 PM EDT MON JUL 20 1998

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

0625 PM    ASHEBORO                  NC   WIND DAMAGE
07/20/98   RANDOLPH                       EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
                                          REPORTED TREES DOWNED ON
                                          OLD LEXINGTON RD. ABOUT 5
                                          MILES NW OF
                                          ASHEBORO...DIME-SIZE HAIL
                                          WAS ALSO REPORTED.
Local storm report, Jul 20, 7:41 PM EDT, 1 hour 4 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
741 PM EDT MON JUL 20 1998

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

0655 PM    ASHEBORO                  NC   WIND DAMAGE
07/20/98   RANDOLPH                       EMERGENCY MANGAGEMENT
                                          REPORTED TREES DOWN AND
                                          DIME-SIZE HAIL ABOUT 10
                                          MILES SOUTWEST OF
                                          ASHEBORO.

0700 PM    RAMSEUR                   NC   WIND DAMAGE
07/20/98   RANDOLPH                       SKYWARN REPORTED TREES
                                          DOWN ON HWY 64 5 MILES
                                          EAST OF RAMSEUR...LIMBS
                                          CRASHED THROUGH WINDSHIELD
                                          OF CAR CAUSING AN
                                          ACCIDENT.
Local storm report, Jul 20, 8:03 PM EDT, 42 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
803 PM EDT MON JUL 20 1998

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

0730 PM    ROANOKE RAPIDS            NC   WIND DAMAGE
07/20/98   HALIFAX                        HALIFAX 911 REPORTED TREES
                                          DOWN 10 MILES SW OF
                                          ROANOKE RAPIDS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 20, 8:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHWake47 min
Jul 20, 8:40 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHFranklin, Wake2 hr
Jul 20, 9:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHStanly35 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.