Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 19, NWS Raleigh, NC

May 7, 1998Davidson County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at May 7, 1998, 7:19 PM EDT for Davidson County, North Carolina. It was in force for 16 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 7, 1998, 7:19 PM EDT (23:19 UTC)
Expired
May 7, 1998, 7:35 PM EDT
In force
16 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Davidson County, NC

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 7, 7:30 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Thomasville, NCNumerous trees were downed just northeast of Thomasville in northeast Davidson county near the Guilford and Randolph county lines. Marble size hail also occurred in the same area.

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
May 7, 5:30 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 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 1998-05-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 49 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 1998-05-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 31 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
49 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-28 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
523 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
53 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.

443 
WFUS1 KRDU 072333 RRA
TORRDU
NCC057-072335-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING...RETRANSMISSION...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
719 PM EDT THU MAY 7 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHEASTERN DAVIDSON COUNTY

* UNTIL 735 PM EDT

* AT 716 PM... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 4 MILES WEST OF HIGH POINT... MOVING EAST-SOUTHEAST AT 30
  MPH.
* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  WESTERN HIGH POINT
  THOMASVILLE

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

PWB

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, May 7, 5:26 PM EDT, 1 hour 53 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
526 PM EDT THU MAY 07 1998

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

0510 PM    CONCORD                   NC   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/07/98   PERSON                         OCCURRED AT THE SOUTH END
                                          OF HYCO LAKE. REPORTED BY
                                          COUNTY MAGISTRATE.
Local storm report, May 7, 6:40 PM EDT, 39 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
640 PM EDT THU MAY 07 1998

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

0635 PM    CLEMMONS                  NC   WIND DAMAGE
05/07/98   FORSYTH                        ROOF TORN OFF HOUSE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 7, 4:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHPerson33 min
May 7, 6:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHForsyth35 min
May 7, 6:41 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHDavidson, Forsyth34 min
May 7, 7:13 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHGuilford, Randolph32 min
May 7, 7:27 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHGuilford33 min
May 7, 7:44 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHRandolph31 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.