Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 2, NWS Raleigh, NC
NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Feb 21, 1989, 10:28 AM EST for Chatham County, Lee County, North Carolina. It was in force for 62 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 21, 1989, 10:28 AM EST (15:28 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 21, 1989, 11:30 AM EST
- In force
- 62 min
- Issued by
- NWS Raleigh, NC
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Chatham County, NC, Lee County, NC
The radar
The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 10:55 AM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Lee, NC |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.
The nearest sounding before it
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 3.5 hours before the alert went out and 83 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 480 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 63 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 42 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 127 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 211532
TORRDU
NCC037-105-211630-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
1028 AM EST TUE FEB 21 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1130 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
...CHATHAM
IN SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
...LEE
WEATHER RADAR INDICATES A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER MOORE COUNTY
MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AROUND 40 MILES AN HOUR. REPORTS OF DAMAGE
FROM A POSSIBLE TORNADO OVER NORTHWESTERN SECTIONS OF MOORE
COUNTY HAVE BEEN RECEIVED...SEVERAL TRAILERS WERE OVERTURNED IN THE EAGLSPRINGS AREA OF MOORE COUNTY.
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 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, Feb 21, 5:53 AM EST, 4 hours 35 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC 600 AM EST TUE FEB 21 1989 ... DENSE FOG OVER MUCH OF NORTHEAST PIEDMONT..NORTHERN COASTAL PLAIN..AND PORTIONS OF THE SANDHILLS. EARLY THIS MORNING DENSE FOG AGAIN COVERED THE NORTHEAST PIEDMONT..NORTHERN COASTAL PLAIN..AND PORTIONS OF THE SANDHILLS. VISIBILITY AT THE RALEIGH-DURHAM AIRPORT WAS LESS THAN 1/16 OF A MILE. THE VISIBILITIES WILL GRADUALLY IMPROVE DURING THE MORNING HOURS BUT WILL BE RESTRICTED MOST OF THE DAY DUE TO RAIN. DRIVE CAREFULLY AND ALLOW EXTRA TIME FOR TRAVEL. KK
The office that day
Everything else NWS Raleigh, NC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 10:16 AM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Moore | 59 min |
| Feb 21, 10:43 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Orange | 62 min |
| Feb 21, 11:00 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Durham | 60 min |
| Feb 21, 11:07 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Wake | 68 min |
| Feb 21, 11:14 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Granville | 61 min |
| Feb 21, 11:30 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Johnston | 60 min |
| Feb 21, 11:37 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Franklin, Vance | 68 min |
| Feb 21, 11:40 AM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Cumberland | 65 min |
| Feb 21, 11:48 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Warren | 57 min |
| Feb 21, 11:51 AM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Johnston | 69 min |
| Feb 21, 11:57 AM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Nash, Wilson | 63 min |
| Feb 21, 12:01 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Wayne | 59 min |
| Feb 21, 12:30 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Edgecombe, Greene, Lenoir, Pitt | 60 min |
| Feb 21, 12:30 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Halifax | 60 min |
| Feb 21, 12:47 PM EST | Tornado Warning | RAH | Northampton | 58 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.