Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 53, NWS Raleigh, NC

May 1, 1998Davidson County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 1, 1998, 6:34 PM EDT for Davidson County, North Carolina. It was in force for 46 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 1, 1998, 6:34 PM EDT (22:34 UTC)
Expired
May 1, 1998, 7:20 PM EDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Davidson County, NC

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 137 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:42 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
May 1, 7:00 PM EDTHail 0.75Thomasville, 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 nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 43 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 12:00Z on 1998-05-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 7 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 12:00Z on 1998-05-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 116 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
7 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-99 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
499 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
116 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
124 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.

435 
WUUS1 KRDU 012235 RRA
SVRRDU
NCC057-012320-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
634 PM EDT FRI MAY 1 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  DAVIDSON COUNTY

* UNTIL 720 PM EDT

* AT 635 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST SOUTH OF LEXINGTON... MOVING NORTHEAST AT
  20 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  LEXINGTON BY 645 PM
  THOMASVILLE BY 705 PM

DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY. GO INSIDE A STURDY
BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS

RA

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

Special weather statement, May 1, 6:03 PM EDT, 31 minutes before
NCZ007>011-021>028-038>043-073>078-083>086-088>089-021200-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
603 PM EDT FRI MAY 1 1998

...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
   FOR TONIGHT...

(THE SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA APPLIES ONLY TO
THE COUNTIES LISTED AT THE END OF TEXT.)

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL
AND DAMAGING WINDS OVERNIGHT. THE MAIN THREAT FROM SEVERE STORMS
WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND SUDDEN STRONG DOWNBURST WINDS.

THE COMBINATION OF A COLD FRONT OVER WEST-CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
AND A WARM FRONT EAST-WEST ACROSS THE NORTHERN TIER OF THE STATE
WILL PROVIDE THE FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT OVER NIGHT.
ADDITIONALLY...WARM MOIST UNSTABLE AIR ALONG AND SOUTH OF THESE
BOUNDARIES WILL AID IN THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT...SOME POSSIBLY
REACHING SEVERE LIMITS.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS CURRENTLY IN STANDBY MODE. PLEASE RELAY
ANY REPORTS YOU RECEIVE.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE
WATCHES AND WARNINGS.

RA
*********************************************************************

ALAMANCE          ANSON              CHATHAM            CUMBERLAND
DAVIDSON          DURHAM             EDGECOMBE          FORSYTH
FRANKLIN          GRANVILLE          GUILFORD           HALIFAX
HARNETT           HOKE               JOHNSTON           LEE
MONTGOMERY        MOORE              NASH               ORANGE
PERSON            RANDOLPH           RICHMOND           SAMPSON
SCOTLAND          STANLY             VANCE              WAKE
WARREN            WAYNE              WILSON
Special weather statement, May 1, 6:03 PM EDT, 31 minutes before
NCZ007>011-021>028-038>043-073>078-083>086-088>089-021200-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
603 PM EDT FRI MAY 1 1998

...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
   FOR TONIGHT...

(THE SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA APPLIES ONLY TO
THE COUNTIES LISTED AT THE END OF TEXT.)

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL
AND DAMAGING WINDS OVERNIGHT. THE MAIN THREAT FROM SEVERE STORMS
WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND SUDDEN STRONG DOWNBURST WINDS.

THE COMBINATION OF A COLD FRONT OVER WEST-CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
AND A WARM FRONT EAST-WEST ACROSS THE NORTHERN TIER OF THE STATE
WILL PROVIDE THE FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT OVER NIGHT.
ADDITIONALLY...WARM MOIST UNSTABLE AIR ALONG AND SOUTH OF THESE
BOUNDARIES WILL AID IN THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT...SOME POSSIBLY
REACHING SEVERE LIMITS.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS CURRENTLY IN STANDBY MODE. PLEASE RELAY
ANY REPORTS YOU RECEIVE.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE
WATCHES AND WARNINGS.

RA
*********************************************************************

ALAMANCE          ANSON              CHATHAM            CUMBERLAND
DAVIDSON          DURHAM             EDGECOMBE          FORSYTH
FRANKLIN          GRANVILLE          GUILFORD           HALIFAX
HARNETT           HOKE               JOHNSTON           LEE
MONTGOMERY        MOORE              NASH               ORANGE
PERSON            RANDOLPH           RICHMOND           SAMPSON
SCOTLAND          STANLY             VANCE              WAKE
WARREN            WAYNE              WILSON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 1, 6:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHGuilford33 min
May 1, 7:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHAlamance35 min
May 1, 7:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHGuilford33 min
May 1, 7:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHPerson29 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.