Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Raleigh, NC

May 1, 1989Hoke County, Moore County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at May 1, 1989, 6:39 PM EDT for Hoke County, Moore County, North Carolina. It was in force for 66 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 1, 1989, 6:39 PM EDT (22:39 UTC)
Expired
May 1, 1989, 7:45 PM EDT
In force
66 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Hoke County, NC, 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, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 113 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 1989-05-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 20 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 1989-05-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 114 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KRDU 012240
TORRDU
NCC093-125-012345-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
639 PM EDT MON MAY 1 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
          ...WESTERN HOKE
IN SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
          ...EASTERN MOORE
 
AT 637PM EDT THE CAMP MACKALL MILITARY AIR TRAFFIC TOWER REPORTED A
TORNADO ON THE GROUND. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 45
MPH. CAMP MACKALL IS IN EXTREME SOUTHERN MOORE COUNTY. THIS STORM WILL
MOVE NORTHEAST ALONG THE HOKE-MOORE COUNTY LINE.
 
PEOPLE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM JSHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE
ACTION TO PROTECT THEIR LIVES. GO TO A BASEMENT...THE CENTER OF
BUILDINGS...COVER YOUR HEAD. DO NOT GO NEAR DOORS 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, 3 hours 1 minute 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 39 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 30, 8:30 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHWake2 hr
May 1, 4:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHWake55 min
May 1, 6:30 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHScotland45 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.