Alert archive / Delaware / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 2, NWS Wilmington, NC
NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at Mar 31, 1989, 3:13 PM EST for Sussex County, Delaware. It was in force for 47 min. 3 reports 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
- Mar 31, 1989, 3:13 PM EST (20:13 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 31, 1989, 4:00 PM EST
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS Wilmington, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Sussex County, DE
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 31, 3:15 PM EST | Hail 0.75 | Sussex, DE | |
| Mar 31, 3:30 PM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Sussex, DE | |
| Mar 31, 3:50 PM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Sussex, DE |
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
Atlantic City In, NJ (KACY), launched 12:00Z, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 112 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 0 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 52 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 93 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 143 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KILG 312014
TORILG
DEC005-312100-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON DE
313 PM EST FRI MAR 31 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 400 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN SOUTH DELAWARE
...SUSSEX
AT 313 THIS AFTERNOON WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 3 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF GEORGETOWN....MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT NEARLY
40 MILES AN HOUR.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.
LCWhat 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 31, 12:55 PM EST, 2 hours 18 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPE HATTERAS NC 1235 PM EST FRI MAR 31 1989 ...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 75 IS IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTH EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA INCLUDING PASQUATANK...CAMDEN...CHOWAN... PERQUIMANS...BERTIE...HERTFORD...MARTIN AND GATES COUNTIES...THIS WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM THIS EVENING... AN AREA OF EXPECTED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WAS DETECTED BEYOND THE 125 MILE RANGE OF OUR RADAR AND EXTENDED SOUTH FROM CENTRAL VIRGINIA INTO THE NORTHERN COASTAL REGION OF NORTH CAROLINA. MOVEMENT OF THIS NEW AREA IS AS YET UNDERTERMINED. ADDITIONALLY...AN AREA OF SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WAS WELL OFF SHORE OF THE OUTER BANKS 120 MILES EAST THRU 150 MILES SOUTH OF CAPE HATTERAS AND IS EXPECTED TO BE BEYOND THE RANGE OF OUR EQUIPMENT WITHIN THE HOUR. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR. RESPIDENTS IN NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR BRI(EF PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS...AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING STRIKES AS THESE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE EASTWARD. FMC
Special weather statement, Mar 31, 1:35 PM EST, 1 hour 38 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPE HATTERAS NC 135 PM EST FRI MAR 31 1989 ...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 75 IS IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTH EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA INCLUDING PASQUATANK...CAMDEN...CHOWAN... PERQUIMANS...BERTIE...HERTFORD...MARTIN AND GATES COUNTIES...THIS WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM THIS EVENING... AT 128 PM EST...AN AREA OF EXPECTED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS FOUND BY THE CAPE HATTERAS WEATHER SURVEILLANCE RADAR JUST BEYOND THE 125 MILE RANGE OF OUR EQUIPMENT. THIS AREA EXTENDED SOUTH FROM THE WESTERN TIDEWATER REGION OF VIRGINIA THROUGH THE CENTRAL PORTION OF THAT STATE INTO THE NORTHERN PIEDMONT REGION OF NORTH CAROLINA. M MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR. RESPIDENTS IN NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR BRIEF PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS...AND FREQUpENT LIGHTNING STRIKES AS THESE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE EASTWARD. FMC
Special weather statement, Mar 31, 2:45 PM EST, 28 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPE HATTERAS NC 235 PM EST FRI MAR 31 1989 ...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CAROLINA INCLUDING PASQUATANK...CAMDEN...CHOWAN...PERQUIMANS...BERTIE... HERTFORD...MARTIN AND GATES COUNTIES. THIS WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 PM EST. AT 230 PM EST...A LINE OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WAS PUSHING INTO NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA. THE MAIN PORTION OF THE LINE EXTENDED FROM JUST WEST OF WILLIAMSBURG VIRGINIA...INTO NORTHAMPTON COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA...TO NEAR ROCKEY MOUNT AND WILSON. MARBLE SIZED HAIL WAS REPORTED WITH SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR...WITH THE LINE ITSELF MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR. THIS MOVEMENT WILL BRING THE THUNDERSTORMS INTO HERTFORD AND BERTIE COUNTIES AROUND 330 THIS AFTERNOON...AND MARTIN...GATES...AND CHOWAN COUNTIES AROUND 400. RESIDENTS IN NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE QUICK ACTION IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES. BT
The office that day
Everything else NWS Wilmington, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 31, 3:05 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Sussex | 55 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Delaware, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.