Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Wilmington, NC

May 23, 1989Pender County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at May 23, 1989, 1:42 PM EDT for Pender County, North Carolina. It was in force for 33 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 23, 1989, 1:42 PM EDT (17:42 UTC)
Expired
May 23, 1989, 2:15 PM EDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Wilmington, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Pender 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, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 233 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 1989-05-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 5 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 1989-05-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 56 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
5 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-147 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1279 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
56 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
80 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KILM 231745
TORILM
NCC141-231815-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
142 PM EDT TUE MAY 23 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  215 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
          ...NORTHERN PENDER
 
THE PUBLIC REPORTED A TORNDADO IN THE THE NORTH PART OF PENDER COUNTY
NEAR WATHA.
 
 
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 HOMES AND VEHICLES. GET INTO A STURDY BUILDING OR A
DITCH.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 23, 2:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMJones, Onslow65 min

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.