Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Blacksburg, VA

March 15, 1989Alexander County, Wilkes County, Yadkin County, North Carolina

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 15, 1989, 3:44 PM EST for Alexander County, Wilkes County, Yadkin County, North Carolina. It was in force for 61 min. 2 reports 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: Mar 15, 1989, 3:44 PM EST (20:44 UTC)
Expired: Mar 15, 1989, 4:45 PM EST
In force: 61 min
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Alexander County, NC, Wilkes County, NC, Yadkin 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
Mar 15, 4:00 PM EST	Hail 0.75	Wilkes, NC
Mar 15, 4:12 PM EST	Hail 0.75	Yadkin, 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, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 99 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: 816 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 156 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 174 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 KGSO 152044
SVRGSO
NCC003-193-197-152145-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
344 PM EST WED MAR 15 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 445 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
      NORTHEAST ALEXANDER...SOUTHEAST WILKES...YADKIN

AT 335 PM RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ON THE BORDER OF
WILKES AND ALEXANDER COUNTIES NORTH CAROLINA.
THIS STORM IS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

IF YOU ARE IN AN AREA THREATENED BY THE STORM..GO TO A REINFORCED
SHELTER AND PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WINDS..LARGE HAIL..VERY HEAVY
DOWNPOURS AND FREQUENT DEADLY LIGHTNING.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...FIND SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FRO6M WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

 KJM

The office that day

Everything else NWS Blacksburg, VA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 15, 3:24 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Stokes	66 min
Mar 15, 3:59 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Caswell, Rockingham	61 min
Mar 15, 4:06 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Alexander, Iredell	69 min
Mar 15, 4:18 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Forsyth	57 min
Mar 15, 4:38 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Alamance	37 min
Mar 15, 4:46 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Davie, Iredell, Rowan	59 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Carolina, 1989 Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.