The following is an Internet Report on a tornado in Manteo, NC on June 13, 1997. Unfortunately, no CASI Members saw the storm. If you have any further information on this occurrence, please contact CASI.

From - Sat Jun 14 19:46:46 1997
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Date: Fri, 13 Jun 1997 19:39:02 -0400
Reply-To: Derek Boutwell <bad@PINN.NET>
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From: Derek Boutwell <bad@PINN.NET>
Subject: Tornado in Manteo, NC
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>Date: Fri, 13 Jun 1997 19:36:23
>To: WX-CHASE DIGEST
>From: Derek Boutwell <bad@pinn.net>
>Subject: Tornado in Manteo, NC
>
>        Hello fellow weather enthusiasts!
>
>Here is a rundown of the tornado that touched down in Manteo, NC today.
>
>     I work at the Dare County Detention Center.  I was at work watching
the weather this afternoon because it looked like it could turn ugly real
quick.  At about 1415, a call came across the radio that a waterspout had
been spotted in the Ablemarle Sound and was headed directly for the Manteo
Airport, which is right next door to the jail.  At this point, I headed for
the control room so I could watch the outside cameras.  The dewpoint was at
69 degrees, winds were out of the west at 10-15mph, gusting to 25mph. There
was a lot of lightning in the area at this time.  I had camera 22 facing
west, towards the airport when I spotted the waterspout.  Then it
disappeared.  Officers on the radio were calling that the waterspout had
dissapated when it hit land.
>
>        I decided to keep watching because it might not be over.  At 1420,
I noticed major rotation in the clouds.  At this time I decided to abandon
the control room and head outside.  When I got outside, the rotation looked
even more impressive than it was on the monitor.  I also noticed that some
scud clouds were getting sucked up into the center of rotation.  I assume
this was the updraft(I'm fairly new to this, OK?).  At 1422, a funnel
touched down approximately 1/2 mile away from me.  The base width was about
200ft.  It was a perfect wedge shape all  the way to the top.  It passed
inbetween some tied-down Cessna's that were parked about 1000ft apart. It
was traveled for about 1/2 mile and then dissapated.  There was no
structural damage to any buildings, no injurys, and the only real damage it
did was sandblast some of the airplanes.  The whole ordeal lasted about 3
minutes.
>
>        This thing could have been a lot worse.  No sirens were sounded, no
warnings put out.  A lot of credit should be given to the Manteo Police
officers and Dare County Sheriff's deputy's for reacting the way they did.
They knew a majority of the public in the area had scanners, and they called
out the locations and directions the best they could.  I know for a fact
that if this tornado had passed thru a housing area, that many would have
been saved by their efforts for an advanced warning.
>
>        Thank you for your time and patience.  I'll go back to lurking now.
>
>                Derek  "Fester"  Boutwell
>