Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Raleigh, NC

March 9, 1998Edgecombe County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Mar 9, 1998, 3:02 AM EST for Edgecombe County, North Carolina. It was in force for 33 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: Mar 9, 1998, 3:02 AM EST (08:02 UTC)
Expired: Mar 9, 1998, 3:35 AM EST
In force: 33 min
Issued by: NWS Raleigh, NC
Area: Whole counties

County Edgecombe County, NC

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 9, 2:15 AM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 00:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 142 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 628 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 504 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 234 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 263 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 4.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

127 
WFUS1 KRDU 090803 RRA
TORRDU
NCC065-090835-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
302 AM EST MON MAR 9 1998


THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  EDGECOMBE COUNTY

* UNTIL 335 AM EST


* AT 300 AM...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY
  CONTAINING A TORNADO ENTERING EDGECOMBE COUNTY FROM THE SOUTHWEST
  NEAR MACCLESFIELD AND PINETOPS.

IF YOU ARE NEAR THIS DANGEROUS STORM, TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IN
THE LOWEST FLOOR AND INNER MOST ROOM OF A BUILDING.

TORNADOES IN THE SOUTH ARE HARD TO SEE BECAUSE OF RAIN, HAZE, LOW
CLOUDS AND TREES. OFTEN YOUR ONLY WARNING MAY BE A LOUD ROARING
SOUND
AND FLYING DEBRIS. BUT THAT MAY BE TOO LATE. TAKE COVER NOW WHEN
SAFE
TO DO SO, REPORT DAMAGES TO EMERGENCY OFFICIALS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 9, 1:51 AM EST	Tornado Warning	RAH	Sampson	34 min
Mar 9, 2:05 AM EST	Flash Flood Warning	RAH	Johnston, Wake	115 min
Mar 9, 2:18 AM EST	Tornado Warning	RAH	Johnston, Wayne	37 min
Mar 9, 2:47 AM EST	Tornado Warning	RAH	Wilson	28 min
Mar 9, 2:52 AM EST	Tornado Warning	RAH	Wayne	33 min
Mar 9, 3:12 AM EST	Tornado Warning	RAH	Halifax	33 min

Nearby

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