Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 6, NWS Raleigh, NC
NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Mar 9, 1998, 3:12 AM EST for Halifax County, North Carolina. It was in force for 33 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
- Mar 9, 1998, 3:12 AM EST (08:12 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 9, 1998, 3:45 AM EST
- In force
- 33 min
- Issued by
- NWS Raleigh, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Halifax County, NC
The radar
The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 99 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:16 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 9, 3:30 AM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Weldon, NC | Several trees were blown down in the Weldon city limits. This event was reported by the County Emergency Manager. |
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.
| 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, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 179 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
165 WFUS1 KRDU 090813 RRA TORRDU NCC083-090845- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 312 AM EST MON MAR 9 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR HALIFAX COUNTY * UNTIL 345 AM EST * AT 310 AM...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY CONTAINING A TORNADO IN NORTHERN HALIFAX COUNTY APPROACHING ROANOKE RAPIDS AND WELDON. ANOTHER GROUP OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING INTO EASTERN HALIFAX COUNTY APPROACHING SCOTLAND NECK. THESE STORMS HAVE BEEN MOVING EAST NORTHEAST. 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, 3:02 AM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Edgecombe | 33 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.