Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 9, NWS Raleigh, NC
NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Mar 20, 1998, 6:26 PM EST for Chatham County, Wake County, North Carolina. It was in force for 34 min. 5 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, 6:26 PM EST (23:26 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 20, 1998, 7:00 PM EST
- In force
- 34 min
- Issued by
- NWS Raleigh, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Chatham County, NC, Wake County, NC
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 20, 6:40 PM EST | Tornado F2 | Garner, NC | The tornado remained a funnel as it roared over the Greenbrier Estates just east of US401. Trees were sporadically uprooted and snapped off. Several trees fell on homes and outbuildings. The tornado touched down on Highway 70 at a church. The roof of one secti |
| Mar 20, 6:45 PM EST | Hail 0.75 | Silk Hope, NC | Dime sized hail was reported in Silk Hope and Siler City per Chatham 911. |
| Mar 20, 6:45 PM EST | Tornado F0 | Raleigh, NC | The storm that hit Garner produced another tornado 6 miles to the northeast on the east side of Raleigh. Damage began just off US64 at Wake Medical Center and the Tower Shopping Center. Cars were overturned, trees were damaged, and a steel-beamed billboard wa |
| Mar 20, 6:45 PM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Siler City, NC | Strong thunderstorm winds destroyed an outbuilding and wrapped a small flatbad trailer around a tree. |
| Mar 20, 6:46 PM EST | Hail 1 | Raleigh, NC | Quarter size hail was reported by a Skywarn Observer at Mini City in northeast Raleigh. |
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 20, 1:00 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 169 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
815 WFUS1 KRDU 202327 RRA TORRDU NCC037-183-210000- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING ...RETRANSMISSION OF EARLIER WARNINGS... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 626 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR CHATHAM COUNTY WAKE COUNTY * UNTIL 700 PM EST * THIS TORNADO WILL AFFECT: IN WAKE...CARY...APEX...RALEIGH. IN CHATHAM...SILER CITY AND SILK HOPE. * BASIS FOR WARNING: AT 615 PM...STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 3O TO 35 MPH THROUGH THE TWO COUNTIES. SEVERAL REPORTS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS IN THE HOLLY SPRINGS AREA IN SOUTHERN WAKE AND IN THE SILER CITY AREA IN CHATHAM HAVE BEEN RECEIVED. PEOPLE NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD ACT NOW TO PROTECT THEIR LIVES.
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, Mar 20, 5:05 PM EST, 1 hour 21 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
505 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0500 PM BURLINGTON NC .75 INCH HAIL
03/20/98 ALAMANCE DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED ON
COY STREET BY WEATHER
SPOTTERLocal storm report, Mar 20, 5:50 PM EST, 36 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
550 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0318 PM WINSTON SALEM NC 1 INCH HAIL
03/20/98 FORSYTH SHERIFF DEPT. REPORTED
QUARTER INCH HAIL IN
WINSTON SALEM.
0320 PM WINSTON SALEM NC 1 INCH HAIL
03/20/98 FORSYTH REPORTED BY FORSYTH COUNTY
SHERIFFLocal storm report, Mar 20, 5:54 PM EST, 32 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
554 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0548 PM PISGAH NC .75 INCH HAIL
03/20/98 RANDOLPH RANDOLPH COUNTY EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT REPORTED DIME
SIZE HAIL IN THE PISGAH
COMMUNITYLocal storm report, Mar 20, 6:02 PM EST, 24 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
602 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0555 PM ASHEBORO NC .75 INCH HAIL
03/20/98 RANDOLPH THREE INCHES OF DIME SIZE
HAIL WAS REPORTED ON THE
GROUND BY RANDOLPH COUNTY
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT.Local storm report, Mar 20, 6:04 PM EST, 22 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
604 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0555 PM ASHEBORO NC .75 INCH HAIL
03/20/98 RANDOLPH THREE INCHES OF DIME SIZE
HAIL WAS REPORTED ON THE
GROUND 8 MILES SOUTH OF
ASHEBORO...COUNTY 911...Local storm report, Mar 20, 6:04 PM EST, 22 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
604 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0555 PM ASHEBORO NC .75 INCH HAIL
03/20/98 RANDOLPH THREE INCHES OF DIME SIZE
HAIL WAS REPORTED ON THE
GROUND 8 MILES SOUTH OF
ASHEBORO...COUNTY 911...The office that day
Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 20, 2:35 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Forsyth | 30 min |
| Mar 20, 3:17 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Forsyth | 33 min |
| Mar 20, 3:36 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Davidson | 34 min |
| Mar 20, 3:54 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Randolph | 31 min |
| Mar 20, 4:15 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Person | 30 min |
| Mar 20, 4:20 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Guilford | 35 min |
| Mar 20, 4:41 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Alamance | 34 min |
| Mar 20, 5:27 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Person | 33 min |
| Mar 20, 5:33 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Randolph | 32 min |
| Mar 20, 5:58 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Durham, Orange | 32 min |
| Mar 20, 6:00 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Wake | 35 min |
| Mar 20, 6:28 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Alamance | 32 min |
| Mar 20, 6:44 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Granville | 31 min |
| Mar 20, 6:50 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Granville | 35 min |
| Mar 20, 6:56 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Orange | 29 min |
| Mar 20, 6:56 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Franklin | 29 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.