Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Wilmington, NC

September 25, 1989Brunswick County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at Sep 25, 1989, 5:57 PM EDT for Brunswick County, North Carolina. It was in force for 63 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 25, 1989, 5:57 PM EDT (21:57 UTC)
Expired
Sep 25, 1989, 7:00 PM EDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Wilmington, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Brunswick 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

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 208 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1989-09-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1989-09-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 373 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
550 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
373 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
432 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KILM 252158
TORILM
NCC019-252300-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
557 PM EDT MON SEP 25 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
          ...WESTERN BRUNSWICK
 
AT 550 PM EDT BRUNSWICK COUNTY SHERIFF DEPT REPORTED WATERSPOUTS IN
THE
WATERWAY MOVING NORTHWEST ACROSS LAND WEST OF OCEAN ISLE.
 
 
TORNADOES IN THE SOUTH ARE HARD TO SEE BECAUSE OF RAIN...LOW
CLOUDS...AND TREES. TAKE COVER NOW...DO NOT TRY TO WAIT ON THE
STORM AND DO NOT TRY TO OUTRUN IT.

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, Sep 25, 12:44 PM EDT, 5 hours 13 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
1243 PM EDT MON SEP 25 1989

URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING ARE POSSIBLE WITH HEAVY RAIN
AND THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING IN SOUTHEAST NORTH
CAROLINA.

PEOPLE IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD TAKE THE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS
AGAINST THESE CONDITIONS.

AT 1230 THIS AFTERNOON RAIN COVERED MOST OF EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA...
NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA AND THE ADJOINING ATLANTIC WATERS. THE RAIN
AREA EXTENDED TO OVER 150 MILES TO THE EAST AND SOUTH OF WILMINGTON.

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS OFFSHORE IN THE RAIN AREA EXTENDED FROM 20 MILES
EAST OF WILMINGTON TO NEAR GEORGETOWN SOUTH CAROLINA.

THE RAIN ELEMENTS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHWEST AT 30 MPH.
DS
Special weather statement, Sep 25, 2:45 PM EDT, 3 hours 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
143 PM EDT MON SEP 25 1989

URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING ARE POSSIBLE WITH HEAVY RAIN
AND THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING IN SOUTHEAST NORTH
CAROLINA.

PEOPLE IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD TAKE THE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS
AGAINST THESE CONDITIONS.

AT 230 THIS AFTERNOON RAIN COVERED MOST OF EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA...
EXTREME NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA AND THE ADJOINING ATLANTIC WATERS. THE
RAIN AREA EXTENDED TO OVER 150 MILES TO THE EAST AND SOUTH OF WILMINGTON.

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE RAIN AREA EXTENDED FROM BRUNSWICK COUNTY
NORTH CAROLINA TO MURELLS INLET AND SOUTHEAST TO FRYRING PAN TuOWER.

THE RAIN ELEMENTS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHWEST AT 30 MPH.
DS
Special weather statement, Sep 25, 3:18 PM EDT, 2 hours 39 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPE HATTERAS NC
315 PM EDT MON SEP 25 1989

HEAVY RAINS WITH POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORMS EMBEDDED IN A BROAD
AREA OF PRECIPITATION MOVES INTO THE NORTHEAST PORTION OF
NORTH CAROLINA.

RESIDENTS AND TRAVELERS IN NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD BE
AWARE OF THIS CONDITION AND TAKE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS. THE
POSSIBILITY OF URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING WILL INCREASES AS
THE NIGHT PROGRESSES.

ROADS MAY BE COVERED WITH AREAS OF SHALLOW WATER WHICH COULD BE
DANGEROUS TO DRIVERS THAT APPROACH THERES AREAS AT A RAPID
SPEED. MOTORISTS ARE URGED TO SLOW DOWN AS CONDITIONS WARRENT.

FMC
Special weather statement, Sep 25, 3:42 PM EDT, 2 hours 15 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
342 PM EDT MON SEP 25 1989

URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING ARE POSSIBLE WITH HEAVY RAIN
AND THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING IN SOUTHEAST NORTH
CAROLINA.

PEOPLE IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD TAKE THE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS
AGAINST THESE CONDITIONS.

AT 330 THIS AFTERNOON RAIN COVERED MOST OF EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA...
EXTREME NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA AND THE ADJOINING ATLANTIC WATERS. THE
RAIN AREA EXTENDED TO OVER 150 MILES TO THE EAST AND SOUTH OF WILMINGTON.

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE RAIN AREA EXTENDED FROM 20 MILES EAST OF
WILMINGTON TO MURELLS INLET SOUTH CAROLINA AND EAST TO NEAR FRYING PAN TOWER.

THE RAIN ELEMENTS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHWEST AT 30 MPH.
DS
Special weather statement, Sep 25, 4:51 PM EDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
435 PM EDT MON SEP 25 1989

URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING ARE POSSIBLE IN THE COASTAL SECTIONS
OF NORTH CAROLINA THIS EVENING.

AT THE NEW HANOVER COUNTY AIRPORT ABOUT THREE INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN
TODAY...AND THERE MAY BE SOME SURRONDING AREAS THAT HAVE RECEIVED EVEN
MORE.  LOW AREA AND STEET FLOODING ARE LIKELY. MOTORISTS SHOULD USE
EXTRA CAUTION AND BE ALERT FOR FLOOD DANGERS.

AT 430 THE RADAR SHOWED RAIN COVERING MOST OF EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND
A LARGE AREA OVER THE OCEAN TO OVER 125 MILES OFFSHORE.  THERE WERE
SEVERAL VERY HEAVY SHOWERS OR POSSIBLY THUNDERSTORMS IN THE COASTAL WATERS
WHICH WILL LIKELY MOVE ONSHORE IN BRUNSWICK AND ONSLOW COUNTIES.

THE RAIN WAS MOVING NORTH AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.
RK
Special weather statement, Sep 25, 5:45 PM EDT, 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
535 PM EDT MON SEP 25 1989

URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING ARE POSSIBLE IN THE COASTAL SECTIONS
OF NORTH CAROLINA THIS EVENING.

AT THE NEW HANOVER COUNTY AIRPORT ABOUT THREE INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN
TODAY...AND THERE MAY BE SOME SURRONDING AREAS THAT HAVE RECEIVED EVEN
MORE.  LOW AREA AND STEET FLOODING ARE LIKELY. MOTORISTS SHOULD USE
EXTRA CAUTION AND BE ALERT FOR FLOOD DANGERS.

AT 530 PM THE RADAR WAS SHOWING A CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE WEST
PART OF BRUNSWICK COUNTY AROUND SHALLOTTE. THEY WERE MOVING NORTH ABOUT
20 MILES AN HOUR AND THEY WILL BE PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN.

ELSWHERE...RAIN COVERED ALMOST ALL OF THE NORTH CAROLINA COASTAL AREAS
AND THE COASTAL PLAINS EAST OF RALEIGH AND GOLDSBORO. FARTHER WEST THE
RAIN WAS SCATTERED IN THE AREA AROUND FAYETTEVILLE AND ONLY A FEW
PATCHES REMAINED IN THE NORTHEAST PART OF SOUTH CAROLINA. THwE RAIN AREA
EXTENDED OFFSHORE TO WELL OVER 100 MILES AND THERE WERE HEAVY SHOWERS
IN THE COASTAL WATERS.  THE SHOWERS IN THE COASTAL WATERS WILL BE
MOVING ONSHORE IN THE AREA BETWEEN HOLLYRIDGE AND BEAUFORT DURING THE
NEXT HOUR OR SO.
RK

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.