Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 1998
Tornado Watch 114
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 20, 1998, 7:30 AM EST for 5 states. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 20, 1998, 7:30 AM EST (12:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 20, 1998, 1:00 PM EST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 55 counties
Banks County, GA, Franklin County, GA, Hart County, GA, Stephens County, GA, Alexander County, NC, Alleghany County, NC, Ashe County, NC, Avery County, NC, Buncombe County, NC, Burke County, NC, Cabarrus County, NC, Caldwell County, NC, Caswell County, NC, Catawba County, NC, Cleveland County, NC, Davidson County, NC, Davie County, NC, Forsyth County, NC, Gaston County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Henderson County, NC, Iredell County, NC, Lincoln County, NC, McDowell County, NC, Mecklenburg County, NC, Mitchell County, NC, Polk County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Rockingham County, NC, Rowan County, NC, Rutherford County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Stokes County, NC, Surry County, NC, Transylvania County, NC, Union County, NC, Watauga County, NC, Wilkes County, NC, Yadkin County, NC, Yancey County, NC, Anderson County, SC, Cherokee County, SC, Chester County, SC, Fairfield County, SC, Greenville County, SC, Lancaster County, SC, Laurens County, SC, Oconee County, SC, Pickens County, SC, Spartanburg County, SC, Union County, SC, York County, SC, Carter County, TN, Johnson County, TN, City of Danville, VA
The radar
The Greer radar (KGSP), 54 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:33 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.
Warnings issued inside it
4 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 20, 7:32 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Alleghany | 48 min |
| Mar 20, 7:40 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | RNK | Alleghany | 3 hr |
| Mar 20, 10:21 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | RNK | Ashe, Watauga | 3 hr |
| Mar 20, 11:21 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Watauga | 34 min |
The nearest sounding before it
Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 301 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
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 20, 12:45 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Bartow, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattahoochee, Chattooga, Cherokee and 39 more | 5 hr |
| Mar 20, 1:00 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Alamance, Anson, Cabarrus, Caswell, Chatham, Cumberland and 29 more | 6 hr |
| Mar 20, 3:00 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Duplin and 15 more | 4 hr |
| Mar 20, 3:30 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Alleghany, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Botetourt and 24 more | 7 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 1998Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 1998Tornado Watches in Georgia, 1998Every tornado watch 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.