Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 16, NWS Raleigh, NC
NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at May 1, 1989, 6:30 PM EDT for Scotland County, North Carolina. It was in force for 45 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 1, 1989, 6:30 PM EDT (22:30 UTC)
- Expired
- May 1, 1989, 7:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 45 min
- Issued by
- NWS Raleigh, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Scotland 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, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 143 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
- 20 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -22 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 520 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 114 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 200 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 012231
TORRDU
NCC165-012315-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
630 PM EDT MON MAY 1 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 715 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
...SCOTLAND
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A POSSIBLY TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM
IN SOUTHERN SCOTLAND COUNTY NEAR THE SOUTH CAROLINA BORDER. THE STORM
WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 45 MPH.
PEOPLE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE
ACTION TO PROTECT THEIR LIVES. GO TO A BASEMENT...THE CENTER OF
BUILDINGS...COVER YOUR HEAD. DO NOT GO NEAR DOORCS OR WINDOWS. GET
OUT OF MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES. GET INTO A STURDY BUILDING OR A
DITCH.What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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 1, 3:38 PM EDT, 2 hours 52 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC 335 PM EDT MON MAY 1 1989 ...FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FOR THE SANDHILLS...NORTHERN AND CENTRAL COASTAL PLAINS...AND THE NORTHEAST PIEDMONT... ...LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH THE SANDHILLS... AT 330 PM EDT...RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN EXTENDING ACROSS THE SANDHILLS INTO THE SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL COASTAL PLAIN. THE LINE EXTENDED FROM NEAR MT. OLIVE IN WAYNE COUNTY SOUTHWEST ACROSS...SAMPSON...CUMBERLAND...HOKE AND SCOTLAND COUNTIES TO HAMLET IN RICHMOND COUNTY. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. THESE STORMS WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT HOKE...CUMBERLAND...SAMPSON... AND WAYNE COUNTIES THROUGH 4 PM...AND WILL LIKELY MOVE INTO HARNETT AND JOHNSTON COUNTIES BY 430 PM EDT. THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS...LOCALLY HEAVY DOWNPOURS.. DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND POSSIBLY HAIL. TAKE SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER BAPPROACHES. SOME FLOODING OF STREETS AND ROADS IS POSSIBLE FROM THE HEAVY RAIN...AND MOTORISTS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR THIS. LISTEN TO RADIO...TELEVISION...OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLY WATCHES OR WARNINGS. JBM
Special weather statement, May 1, 5:00 PM EDT, 1 hour 30 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC 500 PM EDT MON MAY 1 1989 ...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PORTION OF NORTH CAROLINA UNTIL 11 PM... ..FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FOR THE COASTAL PLAIN WEST TO THE MOUNTAINS... A 450 PM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS THE CENTRAL COASTAL PLAIN AND NORTHEAST PIEDMONT. THIS AREA STRETCHED FROM NEAR WILLIAMSTON TO ROCKY MOUNT WEST THROUGH THE RALEIGH AREA. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTH NORTHEAST AROUND 45 MILES AN HOUR. MARBLE SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED IN WILSON COUNTY JUST SOUTH OF THE NASH COUNTY LINE NEAR I-95 FROM THESE THUNDERSTORMS. NO TORNADOES HAVE BEEN REPORTED FROM ANY OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS AND NO TORNADO WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT. A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM. A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN THE WATCH AREA. BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS. LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. MES
The office that day
Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 30, 8:30 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | RAH | Wake | 2 hr |
| May 1, 4:35 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Wake | 55 min |
| May 1, 6:39 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Hoke, Moore | 66 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.