Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Raleigh, NC

March 20, 1998Granville County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Mar 20, 1998, 6:50 PM EST for Granville County, North Carolina. It was in force for 35 min. 2 reports 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, 6:50 PM EST (23:50 UTC)
Expired
Mar 20, 1998, 7:25 PM EST
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Granville County, NC

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 20, 6:55 PM ESTTornado F2Berea, NCThis tornado occurred with the same parent thunderstorm that produced a tornado earlier in northeast Durham county. The tornado touched down in Berea on Highway 158. A brick ranch home sustained significant damage to the roof and garage. The next damage ap
Mar 20, 6:58 PM ESTHail 0.75Stovall, NCDime size hail fell in Stovall on Highway 15.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Mar 20, 1:00 PM ESTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 125 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°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

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

908 
WFUS1 KRDU 202351 RRA
TORRDU
NCC077-210025-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
650 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  GRANVILLE COUNTY

* UNTIL 725 PM EST

* THIS TORNADO WILL AFFECT:
  STOVALL AND OXFORD.

* BASIS FOR WARNING:  AT 650 PM...RADAR INDICATED AN INTENSIFYING
STORM NEAR BEREA MOVING NORTH NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM MOVE TO SHELTER IMMEDIATELY


PEOPLE NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD ACT NOW TO PROTECT THEIR
LIVES.

DELGADO

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, 6:56 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHOrange29 min
Mar 20, 6:56 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHFranklin29 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes 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.