Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 29, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 5, 1989, 9:26 PM EDT for Stanly County, North Carolina. It was in force for 22 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
- May 5, 1989, 9:26 PM EDT (01:26 UTC)
- Expired
- May 5, 1989, 9:48 PM EDT
- In force
- 22 min
- Issued by
- NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Stanly 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 9:27 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Stanly, 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
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 91 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 608 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -5 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 607 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 60 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 439 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 552 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.9
- Supercell composite
- 7.8
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
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, May 5, 5:17 PM EDT, 4 hours 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC 515 PM EDT FRI MAY 5 1989 ...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL COUNTIES IN THE UPSTATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA... AT 510 PM EDT. RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING JUST SOUTH OF OCONEE COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA TO NORTH OF MACON GEORGIA. THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE LOCATED BETWEEN ATHENS AND MACON. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL MOVE INTO ANDERSON...ABBEVILLE AND GREENWOOD COUNTIES IN SOUTH CAROLINA BY 545 PM EDT. VALVERDE
Special weather statement, May 5, 5:50 PM EDT, 3 hours 36 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC 549 PM EDT FRI MAY 5 1989 AT 540 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY IN THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CAROLINA. THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE IN MACON COUNTY SOUTH OF FRANKLIN AND NEAR LAKE TOXAWAY IN TRANSYLVANIA COUNTY. THEY WERE MOVING NORTHEAST A 50 MPH. ALSO SOME VERY STRONG STORMS WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS SPOTTED IN OCONNEE COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA. THESE WERE ALSO MOVING NORTHEAST. VERY HEAVY RAIN ALONG WITH FREQENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING HAIL AND VERY STRONG WINDS ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS. JUST NORTH OF DOWNTOWN ASHEVILLE MORE THAN 2 INCHES(2.05) OF RAIN HAS FALLEN SINCE AROUND 5PM. SOME STREET FLOODING IS OCCURRING IN THE CITY OF ASHEVILLE. HM
Special weather statement, May 5, 6:01 PM EDT, 3 hours 25 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLOTTE NC 600 PM EDT FRI MAY 5 1989 //////SEVERE WEATHER POSES AN UNUSAL THREAT THIS EVENING... BE PREPARED////// AT 555 THIS EVENING WEATHER RADAR SHOWED SEVERE WEATHER WELL EAST OF CHARLOTTE IN MONTGOMERY COUNTY OF NORTH CAROLINA. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 615 PM FOR MONTGOMERY COUNTY. THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE ALSO LOCATED OVER SOUTHWESTERN AND NORTHEASTERN RICHMOND COUNTY OF NORTH CAROLINA. THESE STORMS ARE BEING MONITORED CLOSELY AND MAY REQUIRE A WARNING. EVERYONE IN RICHMOND COUNTY SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR SEVERE WEATHER AS THIS THUNDERSTORM MOVES THROUGH. MOVEMENT OF ALL THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WAS TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. ... A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT TONIGHT FOR CATAWBA... CLEVELAND... LINCOLN... GASTON... MECKLENBURG... UNION... CABARRUS... IREDELL... ROWAN... STANLY... ANSON... RICHMOND AND MONTGOMERY COUNTIES IN NORTH CAROLINA. THE SAME TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTIES OF CHEROKEE... YORK... CHESTER AND LANCASTER... THE COUNTIES GIVEN ARE ONLY A SMALL PORTION OF THE TORNADO WATCH WHICH COVERS A LARGE PORTION OF BOTH NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA... WELL TO THE SOUTHWEST OF CHARLOTTE IN UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA VIOLENT WEATHER REQUIRING WARNINGS HAS BEEN REPORTED. THIS ACTIVITY IS MOVING TOWARD THE SOUTHERN PIEDMONT IN AN EXPLOSIVELY UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE. EVERYONE THROUGHOUT THE TORNADO WATCH AREA SHOULD TAKE SEVERE WEATHER INTO CONSIDERATION WHILE THE TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT TONIGHT. ONCE AGAIN THE TORNADO WATCH FOR A LARGE PORTION OF BOTH NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. THE NEXT SCHEDULED STATEMENT IS FOR 7 OCLOCK... BE ALERT AND PREPARED SHOULD WARNINGS BE REQUIRED IN THE MEANTIME. RK
Special weather statement, May 5, 6:45 PM EDT, 2 hours 41 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLOTTE NC 647 PM EDT FRI MAY 5 1989 //////VERY...VERY EXPLOSIVE ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS AND CONDUCIVE TO SEVERE WEATHER IS RAPIDLY APPROACHING CATAWBA COUNTY AND THE SOUTHERN PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA FROM THE SOUTHWEST... THIS WILL BE THE SECOND WAVE OF SEVERE WEATHER FOR THE SOUTHERN PIEDMONT TODAY AND HAS THE POTENTIAL FOR BEING THE MOST SIGNIFICANT OF THE TWO. EVERYONE SHOULD TAKE SEVERE WEATHER INTO CONSIDERATION THROUGH MIDNIGHT TONIGHT... AT 644 THIS EVENING A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS SHOWN BY RADAR FROM WEST OF MORGANTON SOUTH INTO EXTREME WESTERN CLEVELAND COUNTY AND ON SOUTH THROUGH SPARTANBURG AND LAURENS COUNTIES OF SOUTH CAROLINA. THE STORMS IN THE SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTIES HAVE PRODUCED SEVERE WEATHER IN UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA AND NUMEROUS WARNINGS HAVE BEEN ISSUED. THESE STORMS OR OTHER SEVERE STORMS WILL LIKELY MOVE INTO THE SOUTHERN PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA EARLY TONIGHT. MOVEMENT OF THE STORMS WAS TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR WHILE THE LINE MOVES EAST AT 15. WELL TO THE EAST OF CHARLOTTE WHERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS WERE ISSUED EARLIER WEATHER RADAR SHOWED ALL ACTIVITY HAD MOVED EAST TOWARD FAYETTEVILLE AND RALEIGH. BUT... SEVERE WEATHER WILL LIKELY RETURN TO THESE COUNTIES LATER THIS EVENING. ... A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT TONIGHT FOR CATAWBA... CLEVELAND... LINCOLN... GASTON... MECKLENBURG... UNION... CABARRUS... IREDELL... ROWAN... STANLY... ANSON... RICHMOND AND MONTGOMERY COUNTIES IN NORTH CAROLINA. THE SAME TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTIES OF CHEROKEE... YORK... CHESTER AND LANCASTER... THE COUNTIES GIVEN ARE ON*LY A SMALL PORTION OF THE TORNADO WATCH WHICH COVERS A LARGE PORTION OF BOTH NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA... THE NEXT SCHEDULED STATEMENT IS FOR 8 OCLOCK... BE ALERT AND PREPARED SHOULD WARNINGS BE REQUIRED IN THE MEANTIME. KUHN
Special weather statement, May 5, 8:42 PM EDT, 44 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>Local storm report, May 5, 8:51 PM EDT, 35 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
<title>Service Notice</title>
<link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
<main class="wrap">
<section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
<div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
<h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
<p id="message1">
The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
</p>
<p id="message2">
Please try again in a few minutes.
</p>
<p class="small" id="detail">
If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
</p>
</section>
</main>
<script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>The office that day
Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 8:05 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Union | 55 min |
| May 5, 8:11 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Anson, Cabarrus, Stanly, Union | 64 min |
| May 5, 8:26 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Mecklenburg | 34 min |
| May 5, 8:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Montgomery | 61 min |
| May 5, 8:49 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Richmond | 56 min |
| May 6, 12:06 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Cleveland | 69 min |
| May 6, 12:26 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Catawba, Lincoln | 64 min |
| May 6, 12:26 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Gaston | 64 min |
| May 6, 1:03 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Cabarrus, Mecklenburg | 57 min |
| May 6, 1:32 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Anson | 43 min |
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.