Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 39, NWS Wilmington, NC

June 3, 1989Beaufort County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 3, 1989, 4:52 PM EDT for Beaufort County, North Carolina. It was in force for 68 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 3, 1989, 4:52 PM EDT (20:52 UTC)
Expired
Jun 3, 1989, 6:00 PM EDT
In force
68 min
Issued by
NWS Wilmington, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Beaufort County, NC

The radar

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

The nearest sounding before it

Cape Hatteras, NC (KHAT), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 124 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, Cape Hatteras, NC at 12:00Z on 1989-06-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 945 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Cape Hatteras, NC at 12:00Z on 1989-06-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 41 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
945 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-125 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1120 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
41 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
16 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KILM 032053
SVRILM
NCC013-032200-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
452 PM EDT SAT JUN 3 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN EAST NORTH CAROLINA
          ...BEAUFORT
 
AT 450 PM A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY RADAR OVER EXTREME
SOUTHERN BEAUFORT COUNTY..JUST SOUTHWEST OF EDWARD NORTH CAROLINA.
THIS STORM IS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.
 
 
PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD BE ALERT FOR LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS. FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN CAN OCCUR
WITH ANY THUNDERSTORM.

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, Jun 3, 11:20 AM EDT, 5 hours 32 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPE HATTERAS NC
1115 AM EDT SAT JUN 03 1989

AT 1115 AM EDT...THUNDERSTORMS CONTAINING FREQUENT DANGEROUS LIGHTNING
AND HEAVY RAINFALL CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS COASTAL NORTH CAROLINA. THE
THUNDERSTORMS REACH FROM OREGON INLET AND SOUTH NAGS HEAD...ACROSS THE
PAMLICO SOUND TO INLAND DARE COUNTY AT STUMPY POINT...THEN SOUTH ALONG
THE WEST BANK OF THE SOUND TO NEAR ENGLEHARD IN INLAND HYDE COUNTY.

REPORTS FROM WEATHER SPOTTERS IN THE AREA INDICATE THAT THESE STORMS
WERE PRODUCING ALMOST CONTINUOUS DANGEROUS LIGHTNING STRIKES AND
BRIEF PERIODS OF HEAVY RAINFALL.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE OPEN DURING AN ELECTRICAL STORM...SEEK SHELTER
AWAY FROM DOORS AND WINDOWS. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...AND YOU FEEL
YOUR HAIR BEGINNING TO RISE...DROP IMMEDIATELY INTO A SQUATTING
POSITION...BALANCED ON THE BALLS OF YOUR FEET. MAKE YOURSELF AS SMALL
A TARGET AS POSSIBLE. STAY AWAY FROM ISOLATED TREES.W..POWER POLES...
OR ANY OTHER TARGETS OF LIGHTNING.

MARINERS IN THE VICINITY OF OREGON INLET SHOULD SEEK SAFE HARBOR
UNTIL THESE THUNDERSTORMS CLEAR THE AREA.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

BT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 2, 9:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMRobeson61 min
Jun 3, 2:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMSampson64 min
Jun 3, 3:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMColumbus28 min
Jun 3, 3:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMDuplin38 min
Jun 3, 3:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMBladen34 min
Jun 3, 4:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMDuplin26 min
Jun 3, 4:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMCraven39 min
Jun 3, 4:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMJones60 min
Jun 3, 4:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMDuplin, Pender36 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.