Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Raleigh, NC

April 29, 1989Pitt County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Apr 29, 1989, 5:17 PM EDT for Pitt County, North Carolina. It was in force for 43 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 29, 1989, 5:17 PM EDT (21:17 UTC)
Expired
Apr 29, 1989, 6:00 PM EDT
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Pitt 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

Cape Hatteras, NC (KHAT), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 174 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, Cape Hatteras, NC at 12:00Z on 1989-04-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 223 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, Cape Hatteras, NC at 12:00Z on 1989-04-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 44 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
223 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-45 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
736 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
44 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
66 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KRDU 292119
TORRDU
NCC147-292200-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
517 PM EDT SAT APR 29 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
          ...SOUTHERN PITT
 
AT 515PM EDT A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY PITT COUNTY SHERFIFS
DEPARTMENT EAST OF AYDEN. GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL WAS ALSO REPORTED WITH
THIS STORM. THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.
 
TORNADOES IN THE SOUTH ARE HARD TO SEE BECAUSE OF RAIN...LOW
CLOUDS...AND TREES. TAKE COVER NOW...DO NOT TRY TO WAIT ON THE
STORM AND DO NOT TRY TO OUTRUN IT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 29, 2:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHGreene, Wayne, Wilson47 min
Apr 29, 3:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHLenoir58 min
Apr 29, 5:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHLenoir41 min
Apr 29, 5:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHJohnston, Nash40 min
Apr 29, 5:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHWilson58 min
Apr 29, 6:12 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHPitt33 min
Apr 29, 6:30 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHEdgecombe45 min
Apr 29, 6:38 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHalifax37 min
Apr 29, 7:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHGreene, Pitt60 min
Apr 29, 7:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHWayne62 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 1989Every tornado warning in 1989Tornadoes 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.