Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 52, NWS Raleigh, NC

May 5, 1989Moore County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 5, 1989, 5:56 PM EDT for Moore County, North Carolina. It was in force for 49 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 5, 1989, 5:56 PM EDT (21:56 UTC)
Expired
May 5, 1989, 6:45 PM EDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Moore 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, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 94 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 1989-05-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1989-05-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 213 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
213 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
239 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, May 5, 3:33 PM EDT, 2 hours 23 minutes before
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Special weather statement, May 5, 3:35 PM EDT, 2 hours 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
335 PM EDT FRI MAY 05 1989

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO RUMBLE ACROSS CENTRAL AND EASTERN
NORTH CAROLINA...

AT 325 PM EDT...NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE DETECTED BY
WEATHER RADAR OVER CENTRAL AND EASTERN SECTIONS OF NORTH CAROLINA.
ALTHOUGH THERE HAVE BEEN NO SEVERE THUNDERSTOMS DETECTED AT THIS TIME
...THE WEATHER SITUATION IS SUCH THAT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE
HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

SINCE THE GROUND IS ALREADY SATURATED FROM RECENT RAINS...LOCAL FLOODING
COULD OCCUR FROM THE HEAVIER STORMS IN MORE FLOOD PRONE AREAS.

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

PD
Special weather statement, May 5, 4:35 PM EDT, 1 hour 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
435 PM EDT FRI MAY 5 1989

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NORTHWEST PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA...

AT 430 PM EDT THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A LARGE
AREA OF MODERATE TO HEAVY SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH
HEAVY DOWNPURS AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS. THE HEAVIEST STORM IS OVER
NORTHERN IREDELL COUNTY. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES
PER HOUR.
s
THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG WINDS..HEAVY DOWNPOURS
AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.  STAY TUNED TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO..TV OR NOAA
WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND/OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

GR
Special weather statement, May 5, 5:15 PM EDT, 41 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
514 PM EDT FRI MAY 5 1989

...TORNADO WATCH VALID UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR THE ENTIRE NORTHWEST PIEDMONT
   ...NORTHERN FOOTHILLS AND THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS
...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NORTHWEST PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA...

AT 510 PM EDT THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A LARGE
AREA OF MODERATE TO HEAVY SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH
HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS. THE HEAVIEST STORM IS OVER
THE CITY OF GREENSBORO AND NORTHWEST IREDELL COUNTY OF THE NORTHWEST
PIEDMONT. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG WINDS..HEAVY DOWNPOURS
AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.  STAY TUNED TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO..TV OR NOAA
WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND/OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

GR
Special weather statement, May 5, 5:21 PM EDT, 35 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
521 PM EDT FRI MAY 5 1989

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR THE PIEDMONT AND
SANDHILLS OF NORTH CAROLINA. THE WATCH ALSO INCLUDES PORTIONS OF THE
NORTHERN MOUNTAINS...FOOTHILLS...AND COASTAL PLAIN.

THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION. THE POSSIBILITY
EXISTS THAT VERY DAMAGING TORNADOES WILL OCCUR IN NORTH CAROLINA.
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE ALSO LIKELY.

THE AIR OVER THE STATE IS VERY UNSTABLE. A SMALL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM
MOVING TOWARD THE STATE FROM THE SOUTHWEST WILL INCREASE THE CHANCE OF
SEVERE WEATHER THIS EVENING. DAMAGE HAS ALREADY OCCURRED IN NORTH
GEORGIA AS THE WEATHER SYSTEM MOVED THROUGH THAT AREA.

LISTEN TO LOCAL RADIO..TV..OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR
POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
^
LGL
Local storm report, May 5, 5:44 PM EDT, 12 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
540 PM EDT FRI MAY 05 1989

TIME           EVENT
 520 PM EDT    HEAVY RAIN...HAIL...TREE DOWN...REPORTED AS A TORNADO.
               NORTHERN CHAPEL HILL.

520 PM EDT     EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS CENTER ORANGE COUNTY...DIME
               SIZE HAIL NEW HOPE CHURCH ROAD OFF NC 86 NORTH OF
               CHAPEL HILL.

540 PM EDT     LARGE HAIL IN NORTHERN DURHAM COUNTY. SIZE OF PENNIES.

JBP

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 5, 5:16 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHDurham, Orange59 min
May 5, 6:18 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHChatham42 min
May 5, 7:13 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHDurham47 min
May 5, 7:31 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHDurham44 min
May 5, 7:37 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHGranville53 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.