Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC

September 15, 1999Onslow County, North Carolina

NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued this tornado warning at Sep 15, 1999, 12:53 PM EDT for Onslow County, North Carolina. It was in force for 37 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 15, 1999, 12:53 PM EDT (16:53 UTC)
Expired
Sep 15, 1999, 1:30 PM EDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Onslow County, NC

The radar

The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:52 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.

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, 4.9 hours before the alert went out and 47 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

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KHAT 151654
TORMHX
NCC133-151730-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT-MOREHEAD CITY NC
1253 PM EDT WED SEP 15 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEWPORT HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING IN EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA FOR...
  ONSLOW COUNTY

* UNTIL 130 PM EDT

* AT 1250 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  A TORNADO JUST OFFSHORE OF BEAR INLET MOVING WEST NORTHWEST AT 40  
  MPH.

* THE TO*RNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE...
  NEAR BEAR CREEK AROUND 100 PM EDT.
  NEAR CAMP LEJUNE AROUND 120 PM EDT.
 
PLEASE REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT FOR RELAY TO
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

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 Newport/Morehead City, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Sep 15, 10:05 AM EDT, 2 hours 48 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 15, 10:05 AM EDT, 2 hours 48 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
1005 AM EDT WED SEP 15 1999

RAIN AND EMBEDDED TSTMS WILL CONTINUE SPREADING INTO AREA THIS AFTN
AHEAD OF FLOYD. TEMPS WILL STRUGGLE TO RISE MUCH ABOVE CURRENT
READINGS. CONT CURRENT WATCHES AND WARNINGS PLUS TORNADO WATCH
ENTIRE AREA. CONSIDERED UPGRADING INLAND HIGH WIND WATCH TO WARNING
THIS PKG...BUT PER COORD WITH RAH WILL HOLD OFF UNTIL 4 PM TO HAVE
BETTER HANDLE ON TRACK OF FLOYD.

CWF: MINOR CHANGES...OTRW INCREASING WINDS AND SEAS.

.MHX...HURRICANE WARNING ENTIRE COAST.
       FLOOD WATCH EXCEPT FOR OUTER BANKS.
       INLAND HIGH WIND WATCH TONIGHT AND THURSDAY FOR CSTL PLAINS

JBM

The office that day

Everything else NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 15, 12:07 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXOnslow38 min
Sep 15, 2:35 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXOnslow40 min
Sep 15, 3:50 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXPamlico40 min
Sep 15, 4:08 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXOnslow22 min
Sep 15, 5:13 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningMHXDuplin, Jones, Lenoir, Onslow12 hr
Sep 15, 5:13 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningMHXCarteret, Craven12 hr
Sep 15, 5:13 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningMHXGreene, Pitt12 hr
Sep 15, 5:13 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningMHXBeaufort, Martin, Washington12 hr
Sep 15, 5:13 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningMHXPamlico12 hr
Sep 15, 5:30 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXCarteret30 min
Sep 15, 6:15 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXBeaufort30 min
Sep 15, 6:52 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXCarteret23 min
Sep 15, 7:01 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXWashington29 min
Sep 15, 7:07 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXHyde23 min
Sep 15, 7:09 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXPamlico36 min
Sep 15, 7:29 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXBeaufort, Pamlico31 min
Sep 15, 7:56 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXCarteret34 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.