Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Raleigh, NC

March 30, 1989Nash County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 30, 1989, 3:36 PM EST for Nash County, North Carolina. It was in force for 39 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 30, 1989, 3:36 PM EST (20:36 UTC)
Expired
Mar 30, 1989, 4:15 PM EST
In force
39 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Nash 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, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 173 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 1989-03-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 71 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 1989-03-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 54 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
71 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-93 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
856 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
54 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 302037
SVRRDU
NCC127-302115-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
336 PM EST THU MAR 30 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  415 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
          ...NORTHERN NASH
 
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS DETECTED ON RADAR AT 330 PM NEAR THE NASH
FRANKLIN COUNTY LINE BETWEEN CASTALIA AND EDWARDS CROSSROADS. THIS
STORM HAS BEEN MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MILES AN HOUR.
 
PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD BE ALERT FOR LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS. FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN CAN OCCUR
WITH ANY THUNDERSTORM.

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, Mar 30, 2:02 PM EST, 1 hour 34 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
200 PM EST THU MAR 30 1989

AT 200 PM A THUNDERSTORM WITH HEAVY RAIN WAS LOCATED IN EXTREME EASTERN
WAKE COUNTY BETWEEN ROLESVILLE ANDa WAKEFIELD. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING
TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 TO 50 MPH AND WILL BE IN FRANKLIN COUNTY BETWEEN
200 AND 300 PM.

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

LGL
Special weather statement, Mar 30, 2:30 PM EST, 1 hour 6 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
230 PM EST THU MAR 30 1989

AT 230 PM A THUNDERSTORM LOCATED ON THE FRANKLIN AND NASH COUNTY LINE
JUST EAST OF BUNN WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 40 MPH. THE
THUNDERSTORM WILL BE IN NASH COUNTY BETWEEN 230 PM AND 300 PM.

AS THE THUNDERSTORM WAS CROSSING BUNN AT ABOUT 215 PM...PEA SIZE HAIL
WAS OBSERVED. DUE TO THE RAPID MOVEMENT OF THE THUNDERSTORM...STRONG
AND GUSTY WINuDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE.

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

LGL
Local storm report, Mar 30, 2:46 PM EST, 50 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
246 PM EST THU MAR 30 1989

TIME           EVENT
235 EST        NASH COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT REPORTED GOLF BALL SIZE
               HAIL NEAR CASTALIA.

LGL
Local storm report, Mar 30, 3:22 PM EST, 14 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
322 PM EST THU MAR 30 1989

TIME           EVENT
250 EST        NORTH CAROLINA DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION REPORTED
               HAIL THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH IN DIAMETER NEAR AVENTON
               IN NORTHERN NASH COUNTY.

LGL
Local storm report, Mar 30, 3:35 PM EST, 1 minute before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
335 PM EST THU MAR 30 1989

TIME              EVENT
310-315 PM EST    HALIFAX COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIAL REPORTED
                  MARBLE SIZE HAIL IN DOWNTOWN HALIFAX. REPORT RELAYED
                  TO THE NWS BY WRAL-TV IN RALEIGH.

LGL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 30, 4:58 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHEdgecombe, Wilson32 min
Mar 30, 5:17 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHNorthampton28 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.