Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Watches in 1998

Tornado Watch 119

March 20, 199838 counties in North Carolina; 6 counties in South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 20, 1998, 7:00 PM EST for 38 counties in North Carolina; 6 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 20, 1998, 7:00 PM EST (00:00 UTC)
Expired
Mar 21, 1998, 12:00 AM EST
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 44 counties

Alamance County, NC, Bladen County, NC, Brunswick County, NC, Caswell County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Columbus County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Durham County, NC, Edgecombe County, NC, Franklin County, NC, Granville County, NC, Greene County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Halifax County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Lee County, NC, Lenoir County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Nash County, NC, New Hanover County, NC, Northampton County, NC, Orange County, NC, Pender County, NC, Person County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Robeson County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Vance County, NC, Wake County, NC, Warren County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Wilson County, NC, Darlington County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Florence County, SC, Horry County, SC, Marion County, SC, Marlboro County, SC

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 20, 7:05 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHDurham, Wake30 min
Mar 20, 7:15 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMMarlboro45 min
Mar 20, 7:24 PM ESTTornado WarningRAHFranklin31 min
Mar 20, 7:31 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMDillon39 min
Mar 20, 7:34 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHGranville, Person46 min
Mar 20, 7:36 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHChatham34 min
Mar 20, 7:42 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMFlorence33 min
Mar 20, 7:49 PM ESTTornado WarningRAHWarren46 min
Mar 20, 7:58 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHOrange47 min
Mar 20, 8:02 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHoke, Scotland48 min
Mar 20, 8:07 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMMarion33 min
Mar 20, 8:17 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMRobeson43 min
Mar 20, 8:19 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMDillon36 min
Mar 20, 8:24 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRAHDurham31 min
Mar 20, 8:24 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHDurham31 min
Mar 20, 8:30 PM ESTTornado WarningILMRobeson35 min
Mar 20, 8:41 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHarnett34 min
Mar 20, 8:42 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMMarion28 min
Mar 20, 8:46 PM ESTTornado WarningRAHGranville49 min
Mar 20, 8:54 PM ESTTornado WarningRAHDurham, Wake36 min
Mar 20, 9:07 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMBladen, Columbus43 min
Mar 20, 9:08 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRAHOrange32 min
Mar 20, 9:08 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHOrange32 min
Mar 20, 9:09 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMBladen41 min
Mar 20, 9:20 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHCumberland20 min
Mar 20, 9:27 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHVance33 min
Mar 20, 9:35 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHDurham30 min
Mar 20, 9:52 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHJohnston, Wake18 min
Mar 20, 10:21 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHNash, Wilson34 min
Mar 20, 10:51 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXGreene, Pitt49 min

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 159 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 1998-03-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 486 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 1998-03-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 82 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
486 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-41 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
840 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
64 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
82 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
123 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.2

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.

Nearby

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