Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 113, NWS Raleigh, NC

July 12, 1989Granville County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 12, 1989, 5:10 PM EDT for Granville County, North Carolina. It was in force for 50 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 12, 1989, 5:10 PM EDT (21:10 UTC)
Expired
Jul 12, 1989, 6:00 PM EDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Granville 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, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 115 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 1989-07-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1663 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 1989-07-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 15 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
1663 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-32 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1098 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
15 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
54 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 122112
SVRRDU
NCC077-122200-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
510 PM EDT WED JUL 12 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
          ...GRANVILLE
 
RADAR AT THE RADAR AIRPORT SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER GRANVILLE
COUNTY.
 
SE(VERE THUNDERSTORM WINDS CAN REACH SPEEDS OF 60 MPH TO OVER 100
MPH. THESE WINDS BLOW DOWN TREES...POWER LINES...AND SEVERELY
DAMAGE MOBILE HOMES...SOMETIMES BUILDINGS. VERY LARGE HAIL CAN
INJURE ANYONE CAUGHT OUTSIDE.
 
RHJ

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 12, 1:12 PM EDT, 3 hours 58 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
110 PM EDT WED JUL 12 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHWESTERN NORTH CAROLINA...

AT 105 PM RADAR SHOWED A BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH HEAVY
RAIN IN NORTHWESTERN STOKES COUNTY NEAR THE VIRGINIA BORDER...NORTHEAST
WILKES COUNTY ALONG THE SURRY COUNTY BORDER AND ALLEGHENY COUNTY OF
THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS. THE STORMS ARE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 MPH.

PERSONS IN STOKES...SURRY AND ALLEGHENY COUNTIES OF NORTHWESTERN
NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR STRONG GUSTY WINDS
...VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS...POSSIBLE HAIL AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.
SOME FLOODING OF ROADWAYS AND LOW LYING AREAS IS POSSIBLE. TAKE
SHELTER WHEN STORMS APPROACH.

GR
Special weather statement, Jul 12, 2:07 PM EDT, 3 hours 3 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
206 PM EDT WED JUL 12 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHWESTERN NORTH CAROLINA...

AT 200 PM RADAR SHOWED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY
RAIN IN THE NORTHERN FOOTHILLS...ALLEGHANY COUNTY OF THE NORTHERN
MOUNTAINS AND STOKES COUNTY OF THE NORTHWEST PIEDMONT. THE STORMS
WITH THE HEAVIEST DOWNPOURS ARE IN EXTREME WESTERN SURRY COUNTY AND
IN THE DANBURY AREA OF STOKES COUNTY. MOVEMENT WAS SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

PERSONS IN STOKES...SURRY...WILKES...YADKIN AND ALLEGHENY COUNTIES OF
NORTHWESTERN NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR STRONG GUSTY
WINDS...VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS...POSSIBLE HAIL AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.
SOM5E FLOODING OF ROADWAYS AND LOW LYING AREAS IS POSSIBLE SINCE THE
STORMS ARE MOVING RELATIVELY SLOW. TAKE SHELTER WHEN STORMS APPROACH.

GR
Special weather statement, Jul 12, 3:40 PM EDT, 1 hour 30 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
336 PM EDT WED JUL 12 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS IN THE NORTHWEST PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA...

AT 330 PM RADAR SHOWED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY
RAIN IN THE NORTHWEST PIEDMONT. THE STORMS WITH THE HEAVIEST DOWNPOURS
ARE IN NORTHEAST FORSYTH COUNTY JUST WEST OF BELEW CREEK...SOUTHWEST
RANDOLPH COUNTY WEST OF THE UWHARRIE RIVER AND SOUTH CENTRAL ALAMANCE
COUNTY. MOVEMENT WAS GENERALLY TO THE EAST AT 10 TO 15 MPH.

PERSONS IN THE NORTHWEST PIEDMONT SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR GUSTY
WINDS...VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS...POSSIBLE HAIL AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.
SOME FLOODING OF ROADWAYS AND LOW LYING AREAS IS POSSIBLE SINCE THE
STORMS ARE MOVING RELATIVELY SLOW. TAKE SHELTER WHEN STORMS APPROACH.

GR

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 12, 2:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHOrange63 min
Jul 12, 2:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHChatham61 min
Jul 12, 3:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHOrange55 min
Jul 12, 3:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHGranville, Vance55 min
Jul 12, 4:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHChatham59 min
Jul 12, 4:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHOrange, Person57 min
Jul 12, 4:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHVance, Warren61 min
Jul 12, 5:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHNash42 min
Jul 12, 6:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHCumberland, Harnett42 min
Jul 12, 6:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHPitt52 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Carolina, 1989Every severe thunderstorm 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.