Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Raleigh, NC
NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 21, 1989, 11:00 AM EST for Durham County, North Carolina. It was in force for 60 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 21, 1989, 11:00 AM EST (16:00 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 21, 1989, 12:00 PM EST
- In force
- 60 min
- Issued by
- NWS Raleigh, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Durham 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, 4.0 hours before the alert went out and 92 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 480 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 63 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 42 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 127 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KRDU 211603
SVRRDU
NCC063-211700-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
1100 AM EST TUE FEB 21 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL NOON EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
...DURHAM
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
APPROACHING DURHAM COUNTY FROM THE WEST AT 11 AM EST. THE STRONGEST
PART OF THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING TOWARD SOUTHERN DURHAM COUNTY.
THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 50 MPH.
IF THE THUNDERSTORM CONTINUES ITS CURRENT TRACK...IT WILL MOVE INTO
WAKE= COUNTY BEFORE NOON.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, Feb 21, 5:53 AM EST, 5 hours 7 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC 600 AM EST TUE FEB 21 1989 ... DENSE FOG OVER MUCH OF NORTHEAST PIEDMONT..NORTHERN COASTAL PLAIN..AND PORTIONS OF THE SANDHILLS. EARLY THIS MORNING DENSE FOG AGAIN COVERED THE NORTHEAST PIEDMONT..NORTHERN COASTAL PLAIN..AND PORTIONS OF THE SANDHILLS. VISIBILITY AT THE RALEIGH-DURHAM AIRPORT WAS LESS THAN 1/16 OF A MILE. THE VISIBILITIES WILL GRADUALLY IMPROVE DURING THE MORNING HOURS BUT WILL BE RESTRICTED MOST OF THE DAY DUE TO RAIN. DRIVE CAREFULLY AND ALLOW EXTRA TIME FOR TRAVEL. KK
Special weather statement, Feb 21, 10:29 AM EST, 31 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC 1022 AM EST TUE FEB 21 1989 ...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN RANDOLPH COUNTY OF THE NORTHWEST PIEDMONT... AT 1020 AM...RADAR SHOWS A SMALL LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN EXTENDED FROM SOUTH OF RAMSEUR AND EAST OF SEAGROVE IN EASTERN RANDOLPH COUNTY. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. THESE STORMS COULD CONTAIN SOME HAIL...VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS. POSSIBLE FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS AND ROADS ARE POSSIBLE. THE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD MOVE INTO CHATHAM COUNTY IN THE NEXT ONE HALF HOUR. PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS SHOULD TAKE COVER IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES. GR
The office that day
Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 10:16 AM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Moore | 59 min |
| Feb 21, 10:28 AM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Chatham, Lee | 62 min |
| Feb 21, 10:43 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Orange | 62 min |
| Feb 21, 11:07 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Wake | 68 min |
| Feb 21, 11:14 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Granville | 61 min |
| Feb 21, 11:30 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Johnston | 60 min |
| Feb 21, 11:37 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Franklin, Vance | 68 min |
| Feb 21, 11:40 AM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Cumberland | 65 min |
| Feb 21, 11:48 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Warren | 57 min |
| Feb 21, 11:51 AM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Johnston | 69 min |
| Feb 21, 11:57 AM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Nash, Wilson | 63 min |
| Feb 21, 12:01 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Wayne | 59 min |
| Feb 21, 12:30 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Edgecombe, Greene, Lenoir, Pitt | 60 min |
| Feb 21, 12:30 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Halifax | 60 min |
| Feb 21, 12:47 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Northampton | 58 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.