Alert archive / West Virginia / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 6, NWS Charleston, WV
NWS Charleston, WV issued this tornado warning at Aug 19, 1989, 6:08 PM EDT for Calhoun County, Gilmer County, Ritchie County, West Virginia. It was in force for 67 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 19, 1989, 6:08 PM EDT (22:08 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 19, 1989, 7:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 67 min
- Issued by
- NWS Charleston, WV
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Calhoun County, WV, Gilmer County, WV, Ritchie County, WV
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
Huntington/Tri S, WV (KHTS), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 146 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
- 277 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -38 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 610 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 16 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 17 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 31 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 KCRW 192210
TORCRW
WVC085-013-021-192315-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
608 PM EDT SAT AUG 19 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 715 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES
IN THE NORTHWEST PART OF WEST VIRGINIA
SOUTHERN RITCHIE...
IN THE NORTH CENTRAL PART OF WEST VIRGINIA
NORTHERN CALHOUN...NORTHERN GILMER...
AT 555 PM A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS SIGHTED FROM ROUTE 16 JUST NORTH OF
GRANTSVILLE WV IN NORTHERN CALHOUN COUNTY. SATELLITE IMAGERY AND
WEATHER RADAR INDICATE A VIOLENT THUNDERSTORM IN THAT AREA THAT IS
FULLY CAPABLE OF PRODUCING AND SUSTAINING A TORNADO. THE STORM IS
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF
A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...TAKE SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.
IF YOU LIVE IN A HOME OR APARTMENT...FIND SHELTER IN THE INNERMOST
PORTION OF THE BUILDING ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. GET TO A BASEMENT IF
ONE IS AVAILABLE. AVOID WINDOWS. PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING
DEBRIS WITH CUSHIONS...BLANKETS...OR PILLOWS.
LISTEN FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS HAVING TO DO WITH THIS
STORM.
END/PARKEWhat 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, Aug 19, 5:07 PM EDT, 1 hour 1 minute before
BULLETIN SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BECKLEY, WV 505 PM EDT SAT AUG 19 1989 AT 500 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA. THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL...AND POSSIBLY SMALL HAIL WERE OVER EXTREME NORTHERN FAYETTE COUNTY NEAR GAULEY BRIDGE...AND OVER SOUTHERN GREENBRIER COUNTY NEAR LEWISBURG. THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR. PERSONS ATTENDING THE WEST VIRGINIA STATE FAIR AT FAIRLEA CAN EXPECT THUNDERSTORMS TO CONTINUE UNTIL AROUND 6 PM THIS EVENING. IF THESE THUNDERSTORMS APPROACH YOUR AREA...YOU SHOULD SEEK SAFE INDOOR SHELTER UNTIL THEY PASS AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS...TTELEPHONES...AND ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION. END/MEP
The office that day
Everything else NWS Charleston, WV issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 19, 6:34 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RLX | Barbour, Harrison, Upshur | 56 min |
| Aug 19, 6:34 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RLX | Lewis | 56 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in West Virginia, 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.