Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 16, NWS Raleigh, NC

April 17, 1998Guilford County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Apr 17, 1998, 6:55 PM EDT for Guilford County, North Carolina. It was in force for 65 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 17, 1998, 6:55 PM EDT (22:55 UTC)
Expired
Apr 17, 1998, 8:00 PM EDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Guilford County, NC

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 114 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:59 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 10 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 1998-04-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 77 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1998-04-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 277 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
77 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-98 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
541 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
277 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
274 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.

000 
TTAA00 KRDU 172255 RRA
TORRDU
NCC081-180000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
655 PM EDT FRI APR 17 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  GUILFORD COUNTY

* UNTIL 800 PM EDT

* AT 655 PM... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO JUST NORTHEAST OF JAMESTOWN/HIGH POINT AREA... MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  VANDALIA AROUND 705 PM
  SOUTH OF GREENSBORO 715 PM

IF YOU ARE IN A CAR...GO IN A NEARBY STURDY BUILDING! AS A LAST
RESORT LIE FLAT IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD.

JWC

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Apr 17, 6:50 PM EDT, 5 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
650 PM EDT FRI APR 17 1998

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

0610 PM    WINSTON SALEM             NC   FLOODING
04/17/98   FORSYTH                        REYNOLDA RD AREA NEAR WAKE
                                          FOREST UNIVERSITY.

0640 PM    WELCOME                   NC   .75 INCH HAIL
04/17/98   DAVIDSON                       REPORTED BY SKYWARN
                                          SPOTTER. SOME HAIL
                                          SLIGHTLY LARGER.
Local storm report, Apr 17, 6:50 PM EDT, 5 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
650 PM EDT FRI APR 17 1998

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

0610 PM    WINSTON SALEM             NC   FLOODING
04/17/98   FORSYTH                        REYNOLDA RD AREA NEAR WAKE
                                          FOREST UNIVERSITY.

0640 PM    WELCOME                   NC   .75 INCH HAIL
04/17/98   DAVIDSON                       REPORTED BY SKYWARN
                                          SPOTTER. SOME HAIL
                                          SLIGHTLY LARGER.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 17, 5:59 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHForsyth3 hr
Apr 17, 6:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHForsyth60 min
Apr 17, 6:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHDavidson59 min
Apr 17, 6:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHGuilford, Randolph60 min
Apr 17, 7:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHAlamance47 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.