Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Raleigh, NC

April 15, 1999Warren County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Apr 15, 1999, 6:03 PM EDT for Warren County, North Carolina. It was in force for 52 min. 2 reports 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, 6:03 PM EDT (22:03 UTC)
Expired
Apr 15, 1999, 6:55 PM EDT
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Warren County, NC

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 15, 6:05 PM EDTHail 2Arcola, NCGolfballl to hen egg sized hail was reported by the Warren county Emergency Manager in Arcola. Damage was limited to several sections of town but included banged up siding on homes, broken windows, car damage, and roof damage. Several cabbage fields were repor
Apr 15, 6:15 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Warrenton, NCAn 80 foot tall communications tower was toppled by thunderstorm winds near Warrenton.

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 nearest sounding before it

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 153 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 1999-04-15Temperature 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°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 1999-04-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 283 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
1591 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
75 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
283 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
425 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

999 
WFUS1 KRDU 152210 RRB
TORRDU
NCC185-152255-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED...CORRECTION WARNING FOR WARREN
TORNADO WARNING                                              COUNTY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
603 PM EDT THU APR 15 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WARREN COUNTY

* UNTIL 655 PM EDT

* AT AT 605 PM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR
  INDICATED A TORNADO EXTREME SOUTHERN WARREN COUNTY...
  MOVING NORTHEAST 40 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  NEAR INEZ 610 PM EDT
  NEAR GROVE HILL 620 PM EDT

TAKE COVER NOW 
GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

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.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 15, 5:45 PM EDT, 18 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
445 PM EST THU APR 15 1999

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

0541 PM    HENDERSON                 NC   .75 INCH HAIL
04/15/99   VANCE                          VANCE COUNTY 911 OPERATOR
                                          REPORTED DIME SIZE HAIL
                                          SOUTHWEST OF HENDERSON

The office that day

Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 15, 5:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHGranville, Vance35 min
Apr 15, 5:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHDurham49 min
Apr 15, 5:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHWarren50 min
Apr 15, 6:17 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHHalifax48 min
Apr 15, 7:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHalifax30 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.