Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 5, NWS Raleigh, NC
NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 20, 1998, 3:17 PM EST for Forsyth County, North Carolina. It was in force for 33 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, 3:17 PM EST (20:17 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 20, 1998, 3:50 PM EST
- In force
- 33 min
- Issued by
- NWS Raleigh, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Forsyth County, NC
The radar
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 99 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:17 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 20, 3:20 PM EST | Hail 1 | Winston Salem, NC | Quarter size hail fell in downtown Winston-Salem, reported by NWS spotter. |
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, 1:00 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 137 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
616 WUUS1 KRDU 202018 RRA SVRRDU NCC067-202050- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 317 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR FORSYTH COUNTY * UNTIL 350 PM EST * THIS STORM WILL AFFECT: WINSTON-SALEM AND SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES * BASIS FOR WARNING: AT 315 PM...NWS RADAR INDICATED A STRONG STORM MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH THROUGH THE HEART OF FORSYTH COUNTY. STORMS THIS AFTERNOON HAVE A HISTORY OF HAIL AT LEAST 1 INCH IN DIAMETER. ALTHOUGH NO TORNADOES HAVE BEEN DETECTED WITH THIS STORM, A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT. DELGADO
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, 3:05 PM EST, 12 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
305 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998
TIME (EST) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST ...EVENT/REMARKS...
.....COUNTY LOCATION.....
238 PM PFAFFTOWN NC 1.00 INCH HAIL
03/20/98 FORSYTH REPORTED BY SKYWARN SPOTTER
MFLocal storm report, Mar 20, 3:05 PM EST, 12 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
305 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998
TIME (EST) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST ...EVENT/REMARKS...
.....COUNTY LOCATION.....
238 PM PFAFFTOWN NC 1.00 INCH HAIL
03/20/98 FORSYTH REPORTED BY SKYWARN SPOTTER
MFLocal storm report, Mar 20, 3:08 PM EST, 9 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
308 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
OFFICIALSThe office that day
Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 20, 2:35 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Forsyth | 30 min |
| Mar 20, 3:36 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Davidson | 34 min |
| Mar 20, 3:54 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Randolph | 31 min |
| Mar 20, 4:15 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Person | 30 min |
| Mar 20, 4:20 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Guilford | 35 min |
| Mar 20, 4:41 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Alamance | 34 min |
| Mar 20, 5:27 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Person | 33 min |
| Mar 20, 5:33 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Randolph | 32 min |
| Mar 20, 5:58 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Durham, Orange | 32 min |
| Mar 20, 6:00 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Wake | 35 min |
| Mar 20, 6:26 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Chatham, Wake | 34 min |
| Mar 20, 6:28 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Alamance | 32 min |
| Mar 20, 6:44 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Granville | 31 min |
| Mar 20, 6:50 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Granville | 35 min |
| Mar 20, 6:56 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Orange | 29 min |
| Mar 20, 6:56 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Franklin | 29 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.