Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

April 28, 1989Buncombe County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 28, 1989, 2:22 PM EDT for Buncombe County, North Carolina. It was in force for 38 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 28, 1989, 2:22 PM EDT (18:22 UTC)
Expired
Apr 28, 1989, 3:00 PM EDT
In force
38 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Buncombe County, NC

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 28, 2:45 PM EDTHail 0.75Buncombe, 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. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Athens Municipal, GA (KAHN), launched 12:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 198 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, Athens Municipal, GA at 12:00Z on 1989-04-28Temperature 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°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Athens Municipal, GA at 12:00Z on 1989-04-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 1 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1584 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
31 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.

000 
TTAA00 KAVL 281823
SVRAVL
NCC021-281930-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
222 PM EDT FRI APR 28 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ASHEVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN WEST NORTH CAROLINA
          ...BUNCOMBE
 
AT 215 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM IN EXTREME EASTERN HAYWOOD COUNTY MOVING INTO WESTERN
BUNCOMBE COUNTY AND MOVING TOWARD THE CITY OF ASHEVILLE NORTH
CAROLINA.
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND!
DEADLY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

What forecasters said that day

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

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 28, 10:49 AM EDT, 3 hours 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
1045  AM EDT FRI  APR 28 1989

...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN
NORTH CAROLINA...

AT 1030 AM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS
DEVELOPING ALONG THE CHEROKEE-GRAHAM COUNTY LINE IN EXTREME SOUTHWEST
NORTH CAROLINA..SLOWLY DRIFTING TOWARD THE EAST.

WITH MID-DAY AND AFTERNOON HEATING..THE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY SHOULD
INCREASE ACROSS WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA.

SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE HEAVY DOWNPOURS..DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..
HAIL AND STRONG WINDS.

THE NEXT STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED AROUND 100 PM EDT.

OS
Special weather statement, Apr 28, 12:58 PM EDT, 1 hour 24 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
100 PM EDT FRI  APR 28 1989

...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO DEVELOPE OVER EXTREME SOUTHWEST
NORTH CAROLINA...

AT 1245 PM EDT ..NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORM
ACTIVITY HAS INCREASED IN CHEROKEE..GRAHAM AND MACON COUNTIES OF
WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA.  THESE STORMS ARE MOVING TOWARD THE EAST AT
15 MILES AN HOUR.

WITH AFTERNOON HEATING...THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE
IN AREA COVERAGE AND INTENSITY.

SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN..STRONG WINDS..DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLE HAIL.

PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS SHOULD TAKE SHELTER UNTIL THEY PASS.
OS

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Carolina, 1989Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1989

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.