Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 4, NWS Raleigh, NC

July 7, 1989Halifax County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this flash flood warning at Jul 7, 1989, 4:11 PM EDT for Halifax County, North Carolina. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 7, 1989, 4:11 PM EDT (20:11 UTC)
Expired
Jul 7, 1989, 6:15 PM EDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Halifax 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 203 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1989-07-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 345 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1989-07-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 52 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
345 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-68 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
732 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
51 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 KRDU 072014 RRA
FFWRDU
NCC083-072215-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
411 PM EDT FRI JUL 7 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A
SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
          ...HALIFAX
 
AT 410 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF HALIFAX COUNTY.
 
SINCE ABOUT 2 PM THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING AND REPEATLY
MOVING ACROSS SOUTHERN HALIFAX COUNTY. ESTIMATES FROM RADAR INDICATED
THAT AROUND 2 INCHES OF RAIN HAVE FALLEN THUS FAR. MORE HEAVY RAIN CAN
BE EXPECTED DURING THE NEXT TWO HOURS THROUGH ABOUT 6 PM. THIS WILL
LIKELY RESULT IN THE FLOODING OF SOME SMALL STREAMS AND
ROADWAYS..ESPECAILLY IN SOUTHERN HALIFAX COUNTY.
 
 
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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, Jul 7, 12:22 PM EDT, 3 hours 49 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
1216 PM EDT FRI JUL 7 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS IN THE NORTHERN FOOTHILLS...

AT 1210 PM RADAR SHOWED A BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY
RAIN IN CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST WILKES AND WESTERN SURRY COUNTIES OF
THE NORTHERN FOOTHILLS. THE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT
20 MPH.

PERSONS IN THESES AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR STRONG GUSTY
WINDS...VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND DEADLY LIGHTNING. SOME FLOODING
OF ROADWAYS AND LOW LYING AREAS IS POSSIBLE.

THIS BAND OF STORMS SHOULD BE MOVING INTO STOKES...YADKIN AND NORTHERN
IREDELL WITHIN THE NEXT HALF HOUR. TAKE SHELTER WHEN THE STORMS APPROACH.

GR
Special weather statement, Jul 7, 12:25 PM EDT, 3 hours 46 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
1220 PM EDT FRI JUL 7 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY IN THE NORTHERN COASTAL PLAIN...

AT 1220 PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A RAPIDLY DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORM
OVER HALIFAX COUNTY NEAR THE CITY OF HALIFAX.  THIS STORM IS CAPABLE
OF PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN...FREQUENT SHARP LIGHTNING...AND STRONG
GUSTY WIND.

THE STORM IS MOVING TO THE EAST-SOUTHEAST AT AROUND 10 MPH.

LISTEN TO LOCAL RADIO..TV..OR WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR
POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

RFG
Special weather statement, Jul 7, 1:20 PM EDT, 2 hours 51 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
116 PM EDT FRI JUL 7 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS IN THE NORTHWEST PIEDMOND OF NC...

AT 110 PM RADAR SHOWED WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH
HEAVY TO VERY HEAVY RAIN IN THE NORTHERN HALF OF IREDELL COUNTY...
EXTREME NORTHEAST SURRY COUNTY EAST OF MT AIRY AND IN THE GREENSBORO
AREA. THE STORM WITH THE HEAVIEST RAIN IS ABOUT 10 MILES NORTH OF
STATESVILLE IN IREDELL COUNTY. MOVEMENT WAS SOUTHEAST AT 15 TO 20 MPH.

PERSONS IN THESES AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR STRONG GUSTY
WINDS...VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND DEADLY LIGHTNING. SOME FLOODING
OF ROADWAYS AND LOW LYING AREAS IS POSSIBLE. TAKE SHELTER WHEN STORMS
APPROACH.

GR
Special weather statement, Jul 7, 2:41 PM EDT, 1 hour 30 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
240 PM EDT FRI JUL 7 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS IN THE FOOTHILS AND PIEDMONTS OF NC...

AT 230 PM RADAR SHOWED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH HEAVY TO
VERY HEAVY RAIN IN NORTHWEST DAVIDSON..SOUTHERN DAVIE..MUCH OF IRDELL
COUNTIES AND WEST INTO CATAWABA COUNTY.  THESE STORMS ARE MOVING TO
THE SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST 15 TO 20 MPH.

PERSONS IN THESES AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR STRONG GUSTY
WINDS...VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND DEADLY LIGHTNING. SOME FLOODING
OF ROADWAYS AND LOW LYING AREAS IS POSSIBLE. TAKE SHELTER WHEN STORMS
APPROACH.

SAS

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in North Carolina, 1989Every flash flood warning 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.