Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Blacksburg, VA

May 7, 1998Caswell County, North Carolina

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this tornado warning at May 7, 1998, 8:39 PM EDT for Caswell County, North Carolina. It was in force for 46 min. 2 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: May 7, 1998, 8:39 PM EDT (00:39 UTC)
Expired: May 7, 1998, 9:25 PM EDT
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area: Whole counties

County Caswell County, NC

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 7, 8:40 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Providence, NC
May 7, 8:50 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Milton, NC

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
May 7, 7:00 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 91 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: 362 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 622 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 304 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 350 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.6
Supercell composite: 4.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

831 
WFUS01 KRNK 080040 RRA
TORRNK
NCC033-080125-

BULLETIN--EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
839 PM EDT THU MAY 7 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN CASWELL COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA.

* UNTIL 925 PM EDT.

* AT 839 PM EDT... BLACKSBURG DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 9
  MILES SOUTHEAST OF DANVILLE OR 2 MILES NORTHWEST OF HAMER MOVING
  EAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE IN THE VICINITY OF...
  HAMER                           AROUND 845 PM EDT..
  BLANCH                          AROUND 845 PM EDT..
  MILTON                          AROUND 855 PM EDT..
  SEMORA                          AROUND 900 PM EDT..

<< CALL TO ACTION >> IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO...THE
SAFEST PLACE IS A BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF
STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SAFETY IN AN
INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS..
. PILLOWS... OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.

.END/DD

The office that day

Everything else NWS Blacksburg, VA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 7, 8:02 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Rockingham	33 min
May 7, 9:42 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Ashe	48 min
May 7, 11:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Wilkes	35 min
May 8, 7:56 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Watauga	49 min
May 8, 9:00 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Surry	35 min
May 8, 9:23 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Stokes	37 min
May 8, 9:46 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Rockingham	64 min
May 8, 10:13 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Caswell	47 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.