Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC

April 15, 1999Craven County, North Carolina

NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued this tornado warning at Apr 15, 1999, 10:28 PM EDT for Craven County, North Carolina. It was in force for 32 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: Apr 15, 1999, 10:28 PM EDT (02:28 UTC)
Expired: Apr 15, 1999, 11:00 PM EDT
In force: 32 min
Issued by: NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
Area: Whole counties

County Craven County, NC

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 15, 10:45 PM EDT	Tornado F0	Bridgeton, NC

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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Apr 15, 10:00 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	2 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 00:00Z, 2.5 hours before the alert went out and 42 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 464 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 610 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 260 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 492 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.8
Supercell composite: 3.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHAT 160232
TORMHX
NCC049-160300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT-MOREHEAD CITY NC
1028 PM EDT THU APR 15 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NEWPORT HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 1100 PM EDT

* AT 1028 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  A TORNADO 3 MILES SOUTH OF COVE CITY...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35
  MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE...
  NEAR COVE CITY AROUND 1035 EDT.
  OVER JASPER AROUND 1045 PM EDT.
  OVER VANCEBORO AROUND 1055 PM EDT.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR...IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY
OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY.
ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

PLEASE REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT FOR RdELAY 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 Apr 15, 9:35 PM EDT, 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 15, 9:35 PM EDT, 53 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
935 PM EDT THU APR 15 1999

WIDESPREAD CONVECTION AND ISOLATED SVR CURRENTLY OVER AREA SHOULD
MOVE OFF COAST AROUND MIDNIGHT. SPC ISSUING NEW WATCH TO COVER TIL
THEN FOR COASTAL NC. 00Z MHX SOUNDING IMPRESSIVE WITH HELICITY
AROUND 500. WILL UPDATE ZFP WITH NEW WATCH ISSUANCE.

CWF: WIDESPREAD SCA CONDITIONS REPORTED WITH ISOLATED GALE AT
DIAMOND SHOALS. WILL CONTINUE CURRENT FCST.

.MHX...SCA COASTAL WATERS AND SOUNDS.

JBM

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 15, 10:04 PM EDT, 24 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
1004 PM EDT THU APR 15 1999

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0944 PM    OCRACOKE                  NC   66 MPH TSTM GUST
04/15/99   HYDE                           SPOTTER REPORTED GUST TO
                                          66 AT OCRACOKE

Local storm report, Apr 15, 10:08 PM EDT, 20 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
1008 PM EDT THU APR 15 1999

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0952 PM    FRISCO                    NC   WIND DAMAGE
04/15/99   DARE                           PLANES AND HOUSES DAMAGED
                                          AT FRISCO.

Local storm report, Apr 15, 10:12 PM EDT, 16 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
1012 PM EDT THU APR 15 1999

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1010 PM    POTTERS HILL              NC   TORNADO
04/15/99   DUPLIN                         TORNADO BETWEEN POTTERS
                                          HILL AND BEULAVILLE

Local storm report, Apr 15, 10:21 PM EDT, 7 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
1021 PM EDT THU APR 15 1999

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1016 PM    HARGETTS STORE            NC   WIND DAMAGE
04/15/99   JONES                          75 MPH WIND AT
                                          INTERSECTION OF HIGHWAYS
                                          41 AND 258 NEAR HARGETTS
                                          STORE.

Local storm report, Apr 15, 10:25 PM EDT, 3 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC
1025 PM EDT THU APR 15 1999

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1020 PM    TRENTON                   NC   65 MPH TSTM GUST
04/15/99   JONES                          GUSTS TO AT LEAST 65 MPH
                                          AT 1126 NEAR RT 58 NORTH
                                          OF TRENTON. TREES DOWN,
                                          VEHICLES DAMAGED.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 15, 9:07 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Hyde	38 min
Apr 15, 9:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Duplin	49 min
Apr 15, 9:33 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Dare	42 min
Apr 15, 9:53 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MHX	Duplin	37 min
Apr 15, 9:59 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MHX	Jones, Lenoir	46 min
Apr 15, 10:16 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Onslow	44 min
Apr 15, 10:39 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	MHX	Carteret	51 min
Apr 15, 10:59 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Pamlico	46 min
Apr 15, 11:20 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MHX	Beaufort	45 min

Nearby

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