Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC

July 12, 1989Camden County, Currituck County, North Carolina

NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued this tornado warning at Jul 12, 1989, 2:03 PM EDT for Camden County, Currituck County, North Carolina. It was in force for 42 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 12, 1989, 2:03 PM EDT (18:03 UTC)
Expired
Jul 12, 1989, 2:45 PM EDT
In force
42 min
Issued by
NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Camden County, NC, Currituck 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, 6.1 hours before the alert went out and 130 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 1989-07-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3873 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 1989-07-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -3 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
3873 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-24 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
978 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
33 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 KHAT 121803
TORHAT
NCC029-053-121845-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPE HATTERAS NC
203 PM EDT WED JUL 12 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CAPE HATTERAS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  245 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
          ...NORTHERN CAMDEN...NORTHERN CURRITUCK
 
A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS SPOTTED 10 MILES NORTH OF ELIZABETH CITY NORTH
CAROLINA. THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN
HOUR. THE PATH OF THIS STORM WILL BRING IT ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALF OF
CAMDEN AND CURRITUCK COUNTIES...INTO SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA AT CHESAPEAKE.
 
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.  AVOI/D WINDOWS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 12, 2:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMHXDare30 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.