Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Wakefield, VA

September 15, 1999Bertie County, North Carolina

NWS Wakefield, VA issued this tornado warning at Sep 15, 1999, 7:34 PM EDT for Bertie County, North Carolina. It was in force for 16 min. 1 report 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
Sep 15, 1999, 7:34 PM EDT (23:34 UTC)
Expired
Sep 15, 1999, 7:50 PM EDT
In force
16 min
Issued by
NWS Wakefield, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Bertie County, NC

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Sep 15, 7:40 PM EDTTornado F0Windsor, NCSmall, brief tornado blew a large tree down onto a road. The tornado was witnessed by a citizen.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Sep 15, 10:00 AM EDTTornado WatchSPC12 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 143 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, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 1999-09-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 392 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, Newport, NC at 12:00Z on 1999-09-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 177 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
392 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-39 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
956 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
177 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
266 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
5.1

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.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Wakefield, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Sep 15, 10:55 AM EDT, 8 hours 39 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 15, 10:55 AM EDT, 8 hours 39 minutes before
WAKEFIELD AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
1055 AM EDT WED SEP 15 1999

DSCN: RAIN BANDS CONTG TO PUSH NWD INTO CWA...LOOKING AT OCNL RAIN
WITH A FEW TSTMS ACRS FA.  TOR WATCH TIL 10 PM NERN NC...FEW CELLS
ALREADY SHOWING SOME WEAK ROTATION. WL LUK CLOSER AT ZFP NXT PCKG
WITH SLOLY EVLOVING TRACK OF FLOYD.

.AKQ...HURRICANE WARNING FOR ATLC CSTL WTRS CURRITUCK BCH LGT TO
       NC/VA BRDR...INCLDG SNDS.
       HURRICANE WATCH FOR ATLC CSTL WATERS CHINCOTEAGUE VA TO CAPE
       CHARLES LIGHT AND CHES BAY S OF SMITH POINT.
    ...TROPICAL STORM WATCH FOR ATLC CSTL WATERS FENWICK TO
       CHINCOTEAGUE
    ...HIGH WIND WATCH/FLOOD WATCH ELSEWHERE.
    ...HEAVY SURF ADVSY/SCA FENWICK ISL TO CHINCOTEAGUE VA.
    ...TORNADO WATCH TIL 10 PM NERN NC.

HESS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 15, 7:48 PM EDTTornado WarningAKQBertie17 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes in 1999

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.