Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Raleigh, NC

June 12, 1989Cumberland County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this tornado warning at Jun 12, 1989, 9:07 PM EDT for Cumberland County, North Carolina. It was in force for 53 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Jun 12, 1989, 9:07 PM EDT (01:07 UTC)
Expired: Jun 12, 1989, 10:00 PM EDT
In force: 53 min
Issued by: NWS Raleigh, NC
Area: Whole counties

County Cumberland 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 00:00Z, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 150 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 170 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 237 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KRDU 130107 RRA
TORRDU
NCC051-130200-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
907 PM EDT MON JUN 12 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
          ...SOUTHERN CUMBERLAND
 
AT 905 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO
JUST SOUTHEAST OF FAYETTEVILLE MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.
 
TAKE COVER NOW.
 
 
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 uVEHICLES. 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, Jun 12, 7:31 PM EDT, 1 hour 36 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
730 PM EDT MON JUN 12 1989

... THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO WAKE COUNTY ...
AT 730 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM NEAR HENDERSON IN VANCE COUNTY
THROUGH DURHAM COUNTY AND ON TO CHATHAM AND MOORE COUNTIES.

THE THUNDERSTORM LINE WAS MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AROUND 35 MPH.
THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MOVING THROUGH WAKE COUNTY
BETWEEN 730 AND 830 PM. THESE STORMS PRODUCED WIND GUSTS TO 50
MPH IN NORTHERN DURHAM COUNTY ALONG WITH SOME SMALL HAIL. PEA
SIZE HAIL HAS ALSO BEEN REPORTED IN MOORE COUNTY. DANGEROUS AND
FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING WAS ALSO OCCURING WITH THESE
STORMS.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM FOR
MOST OF EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA. LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR
LOCAL RADIO/TV STATIONS FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.                 KK

Local storm report, Jun 12, 7:52 PM EDT, 1 hour 15 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
751 PM EDT MON JUN 12 1989

TIME           EVENT
740 PM EDT    MAX WIND GUST AT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH-DURHAM
              INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT...30 KNOTS. OCCURRED AS THUNDERSTORM
              LINE MOVED THROUGH.

KK

Special weather statement, Jun 12, 8:20 PM EDT, 47 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
825 PM EDT MON JUN 12 1989

... THUNDERSTORMS MOVING TOWARDS ROCKY MOUNT-WILSON AND
FAYETTEVILLE AREAS ...
AT 825 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM WARREN COUNTY SOUTHWARD THROUGH
EASTERN WAKE INTO HARNETT AND HOKE COUNTIES. THIS THUNDERSTORM
LINE WAS MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST NEAR 35 MPH AND WILL BE AFFECTING
THE FAYETTEVILLE AREA AND THE ROCKY MOUNT AND WILSON AREAS FROM
AROUND 830 THROUGH 10 PM. THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAD WIND GUSTS TO
35 MPH AS THEY MOVED ACROSS THE RALEIGH-DURHAM AIRPORT. FREQUENT
CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS CAN ALSO BE EXPECTED
WITH THESE S,TORMS.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF EASTERN
NORTH CAROLINA UNTIL 11 PM. STAY TUNE TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR
LOCAL TV/RADIO STATIONS FOR ADDTIONAL STATEMENTS.
KK

Special weather statement, Jun 12, 8:28 PM EDT, 39 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
 830 PM EDT MON JUN 12 1989

AT 820 PM EDT THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR GUILFORD...CASWELL
...ALAMANCE...DAVIDSON AND RANDOLPH COUNTIE>S HAS BEEN CANCELLED.
THE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY HAS MOVED EAST AND CLEAR OF THE NORTHWEST
PIEDMONT.

RJD

Local storm report, Jun 12, 8:33 PM EDT, 34 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
831 PM EDT MON JUN 12 1989

TIME           EVENT
 820 PM EDT    IN NORTHWEST HARNETT COUNTY. HEAVY RAIN...FREQUENT
               LIGHTNING...WINDS EESTIMATED TO BE 40 TO 50 MPH. NO
               DAMAGE.

JBP

Local storm report, Jun 12, 8:47 PM EDT, 20 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
846 PM EDT MON JUN 12 1989

TIME           EVENT
840 PM EDT     IN NORTHEAST HARNETT COUNTY BETWEEN ANGIER AND COATS.
               ONE TREE DOWN BZLOCKING TRAFFIC.

JBP

Nearby

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