Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 1998

Tornado Watch 116

March 20, 199835 counties in North Carolina; 5 counties in Virginia

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 20, 1998, 1:00 PM EST for 35 counties in North Carolina; 5 counties in Virginia. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 20, 1998, 1:00 PM EST (18:00 UTC)
Expired
Mar 20, 1998, 7:00 PM EST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 40 counties

Alamance County, NC, Anson County, NC, Cabarrus County, NC, Caswell County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Davidson County, NC, Davie County, NC, Durham County, NC, Forsyth County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Granville County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Iredell County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Lee County, NC, Mecklenburg County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Orange County, NC, Person County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Rockingham County, NC, Rowan County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Stokes County, NC, Surry County, NC, Union County, NC, Vance County, NC, Wake County, NC, Yadkin County, NC, Carroll County, VA, City of Danville, VA, City of Martinsville, VA, Henry County, VA, Patrick County, VA

Warnings issued inside it

30 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 20, 2:04 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPDavie26 min
Mar 20, 2:17 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPMecklenburg28 min
Mar 20, 2:31 PM ESTTornado WarningGSPMecklenburg29 min
Mar 20, 2:35 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHForsyth30 min
Mar 20, 2:44 PM ESTTornado WarningGSPCabarrus46 min
Mar 20, 2:44 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKStokes66 min
Mar 20, 2:45 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKStokes45 min
Mar 20, 3:17 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHForsyth33 min
Mar 20, 3:23 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKRockingham62 min
Mar 20, 3:35 PM ESTTornado WarningRNKRockingham30 min
Mar 20, 3:36 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHDavidson34 min
Mar 20, 3:41 PM ESTTornado WarningRNKHenry, City of Martinsville44 min
Mar 20, 3:49 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKCaswell51 min
Mar 20, 3:54 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHRandolph31 min
Mar 20, 4:15 PM ESTTornado WarningRAHPerson30 min
Mar 20, 4:20 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHGuilford35 min
Mar 20, 4:21 PM ESTTornado WarningRNKRockingham19 min
Mar 20, 4:41 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHAlamance34 min
Mar 20, 4:57 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKCaswell48 min
Mar 20, 5:27 PM ESTTornado WarningRAHPerson33 min
Mar 20, 5:33 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHRandolph32 min
Mar 20, 5:58 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHDurham, Orange32 min
Mar 20, 6:00 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHWake35 min
Mar 20, 6:26 PM ESTTornado WarningRAHChatham, Wake34 min
Mar 20, 6:28 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHAlamance32 min
Mar 20, 6:44 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHGranville31 min
Mar 20, 6:50 PM ESTTornado WarningRAHGranville35 min
Mar 20, 6:53 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKPittsylvania, City of Danville47 min
Mar 20, 6:56 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHOrange29 min
Mar 20, 6:56 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHFranklin29 min

The nearest sounding before it

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 178 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 1998-03-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 1998-03-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 179 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 20, 12:45 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCCherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon and 1 more5 hr
Mar 20, 7:30 AM ESTTornado WatchSPCAlexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke and 30 more6 hr
Mar 20, 3:00 PM ESTTornado WatchSPCBladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Craven, Cumberland, Duplin and 15 more4 hr
Mar 20, 3:30 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAlleghany, Amelia, Amherst, Appomattox, Bedford, Botetourt and 24 more7 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 1998Tornado Watches in Virginia, 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.