Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Wilmington, NC
NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at Mar 21, 1989, 7:17 AM EST for Carteret County, North Carolina. It was in force for 58 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 21, 1989, 7:17 AM EST (12:17 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 21, 1989, 8:15 AM EST
- In force
- 58 min
- Issued by
- NWS Wilmington, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Carteret 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, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 104 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
- 268 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -6 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 636 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 40 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 263 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 300 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.3
- Supercell composite
- 3.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KILM 211220
TORILM
NCC031-211315-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
717 AM EST TUE MAR 21 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING AND
SPECIAL MARINE WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 815 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
...EASTERN CARTERET
AND ADJOINING SOUNDS BETWEEN HARKERS ISLAND AND PORTSMOUTH ISLAND.
AT 715 AM EST THE PUBLIC REPORTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN THE AREA NEAR
HARKERS ISLAND IN CARTERET COUNTY. THE STORMS IN THE AREA ARE MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR. THIS WILL TAKE THE STORM INTO THE SOUTH
PART OF THE PAMLICO SOUND AROUND 730 THIS MORNING
PEOPLE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE
ACTION TO PROTECT THEIR LIVES. GO TO A BASEMENT...THE CENTER OF
BUILDINGS...COVER YOUR HEAD. DO NOT GO NEAR DOORS OR WINDOWS. GET
OUT OF MOBILE HOAMES AND VEHICLES. GET INTO A STURDY BUILDING OR A
DITCH.
ALL MARINE INTERESTS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD TAKE
EVASIVE ACTION AND PREPARE FOR ROUGH SEA CONDITIONS AND HIGH
WINDS.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
Special weather statement, Mar 21, 3:58 AM EST, 3 hours 19 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPE HATTERAS NC 350 AM EST TUE MAR 21 1989 THUNDERSTORMS FORM OVER THE CENTRAL COASTAL PLAIN AND SOUTHERN COASTAL AREA OF EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA. AT 330 AM EST...THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED OVER DUPLIN...WAYNE... LENIOR...GREENE AND PITT COUNTIES. THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORM WAS WAS LOCATED IN PITT COUNTY 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF GREENVILLE. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR. LISTEN TO LOCAL RADIO...TV...OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS. FT .
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 1989Every tornado warning in 1989Tornadoes 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.