Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued this tornado warning at Feb 21, 1989, 1:05 PM EST for Bertie County, Martin County, North Carolina. It was in force for 55 min. 2 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
- Feb 21, 1989, 1:05 PM EST (18:05 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 21, 1989, 2:00 PM EST
- In force
- 55 min
- Issued by
- NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Bertie County, NC, Martin County, NC
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 1:25 PM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Martin, NC | |
| Feb 21, 1:30 PM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Bertie, NC |
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
Cape Hatteras, NC (KHAT), launched 12:00Z, 6.1 hours before the alert went out and 158 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
- 309 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -11 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 863 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 162 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 219 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 1.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KHAT 211803
TORHAT
NCC015-117-211900-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPE HATTERAS NC
105 PM EST TUE FEB 21 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CAPE HATTERAS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 200 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
...BERTIE...MARTIN
A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING TOWARD BERTIE AND MARTIN
COUNTIES AND WILL MOVE INTO THESE AREAS BY 115 PM EST. THE LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING EAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR. THE THUNDERSTORMS
HAVE PRODUCED A NUMBER OF TORNADOES AS THEY MOVED THROUGH CENTRAL NORTHCAROLINA.
IF A TORNADO APPROACHES...TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.
JONESThe office that day
Everything else NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 1:50 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Chowan, Gates | 55 min |
| Feb 21, 2:10 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Perquimans | 65 min |
| Feb 21, 2:43 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MHX | Camden, Pasquotank | 62 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.