Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 19, NWS Blacksburg, VA

June 3, 1998Rockingham County, North Carolina

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this tornado warning at Jun 3, 1998, 6:26 PM EDT for Rockingham County, North Carolina. It was in force for 44 min. 10 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: Jun 3, 1998, 6:26 PM EDT (22:26 UTC)
Expired: Jun 3, 1998, 7:10 PM EDT
In force: 44 min
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area: Whole counties

County Rockingham County, NC

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:30 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
Jun 3, 6:30 PM EDT	Hail 0.88	Eden, NC
Jun 3, 6:30 PM EDT	Hail 1.5	Wentworth, NC
Jun 3, 6:40 PM EDT	Hail 2	Reidsville, NC
Jun 3, 6:44 PM EDT	Hail 1	Reidsville, NC
Jun 3, 6:48 PM EDT	Hail 2.25	Reidsville, NC
Jun 3, 6:50 PM EDT	Hail 2.75	Reidsville, NC
Jun 3, 6:50 PM EDT	Hail 1.25	Reidsville, NC
Jun 3, 6:50 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Reidsville, NC
Jun 3, 6:51 PM EDT	Hail 2.5	Reidsville, NC
Jun 3, 7:00 PM EDT	Hail 1.5	Reidsville, 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
Jun 3, 5:00 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 37 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 2315 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 59 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 149 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.

792 
WFUS01 KRNK 032225 RRA
TORRNK
NCC157-032310-

BULLETIN--EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA
626 PM EDT WED JUN 3 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BLACKSBURG HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  ROCKINGHAM COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA.

* UNTIL 710 PM EDT.

* AT 624 PM EDT... BLACKSBURG DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 16
  MILES SOUTH OF MARTINSVILLE OR 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF WENTWORTH
  MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE IN THE VICINITY OF...
  WENTWORTH                       AROUND 630 PM EDT..
  HARRISONS CROSSROADS            AROUND 635 PM EDT..
  OREGON HILL                     AROUND 635 PM EDT..
  REIDSVILLE                      AROUND 635 PM EDT..
  RUFFIN                          AROUND 640 PM EDT..
  LAWSONVILLE                     AROUND 640 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
Jun 3, 5:59 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Stokes	51 min
Jun 3, 6:10 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Rockingham	60 min
Jun 3, 6:52 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Caswell	33 min
Jun 3, 7:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Ashe	50 min
Jun 3, 7:48 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Ashe	52 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.