Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 11, NWS Blacksburg, VA
NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this tornado warning at May 5, 1989, 8:57 PM EDT for Rockingham County, North Carolina. It was in force for 33 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
- May 5, 1989, 8:57 PM EDT (00:57 UTC)
- Expired
- May 5, 1989, 9:30 PM EDT
- In force
- 33 min
- Issued by
- NWS Blacksburg, VA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Rockingham 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 9:25 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Rockingham, 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 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 37 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
- 608 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -5 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 607 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 60 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 439 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 552 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.9
- Supercell composite
- 7.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KGSO 060057
TORGSO
NCC081-057-151-157-060130-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
857 PM EDT FRI MAY 5 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 930 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES
IN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
GUILFORD...DAVIDSON...RANDOLPH...ROCKINGHAM
AT 855 PM RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM
WINSTON SALEM TO LEXINGTON AND CHINA GROVE MOVING NORTHEAST
AT ABOUT 60 MPH.
A TORNADO WAS REPORTED WITH THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN
WINSTONS SALEM.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE IS IN
A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...FIND SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS..PILLOWS..
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON MOBILE
HOMES FOR STR6ONG STRUCTURES.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 5, 7:21 PM EDT, 1 hour 36 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA 715 PM EDT FRI MAY 5 1989 ...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR THE COUNTIES OF GILES MONTGOMERY FLOYD CARROLL AND ALL COUNTIES WEST OF THESE COUNTIES IN VIRGINIA... AT 710 PM RADAR AND IFLOWS GAUGES SHOWS SOME HEAVY RAIN IN PORTIONS OF SOUTHCENTRAL AND SOUTHWESTERN VIRGINIA. RADAR SHOWS SOME HEAVY SHOWERS FROM A LINE FROM CARROLL COUNTY NORTHEAST THROUGH ROANOKE COUNTY...ALSO FROM NORTHERN HENRY COUNTY NORTHEAST THROUGH BEDFORD COUNTY. IN SOME OF THESE AREAS IFLOWS SHOW RAINFALL FROM 1/2 INCH TO NEARLY AN INCH OF RAIN FALLING WITHIN AN HOUR. THIS COULD CAUSE SOME FLOODING ON SOME SMALL STREAMS AND LOW wAREAS WITH POOR DRAINAGE. ALSO SOME URBAN FOODING COULD OCCUR. PERSONS LIVING IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ALERT IN CASE FLOODING BEGINS. CE
Special weather statement, May 5, 8:20 PM EDT, 37 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA 815 PM EDT FRI MAY 5 1989 ...TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 200 AM FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND EASTERN VIRGINIA. IN THE ROANOKE WARNING AREA THE WATCH INCLUDES THE COUNTIES OF PATRICK HENRY AND FRANKLIN/AND THE INDEPENDENT CITY OF MARTINSVILLE... ...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR THE COUNTIES OF GILES MONTGOMERY FLOYD CARROLL AND ALL COUNTIES WEST OF THESE COUNTIES IN VIRGINIA... AT 810 PM RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY DOWNPOURS STRETCHING FROM PATRICK COUNTY NORTHEASTWARD THROUGH FRANKLIN EASTERN ROANOKE AND BEDFORD COUNTIES...AND INTO AMHERST COUNTY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 20 MPH. PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS CAN EXPECT VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS..DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS. THE HEAVY RAIN COULD CAUSE SOME SMALL STREAM AND URBAN FOODING. A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHWESTERN NORTH CAROLINA IS PRODUCING TORNADOES. THIS THUNDERSTORM IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO SOUTH CENTRAL VIRGINIA WITHIN AN HOUR. PERSONS IN THE COUNTIES IN THE TORNADO WATCH AREA SHOULD STAY ALERT AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE COVER IF A WARNING IS ISSUED OR THREATENING APPRAOCHES. JJ
The office that day
Everything else NWS Blacksburg, VA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 8:05 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Davie, Iredell, Rowan | 55 min |
| May 5, 8:05 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Alexander, Wilkes | 55 min |
| May 5, 8:16 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Yadkin | 29 min |
| May 5, 8:34 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Davidson, Forsyth | 26 min |
| May 5, 8:45 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Forsyth, Stokes | 30 min |
| May 5, 8:57 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Davidson, Guilford, Randolph | 33 min |
| May 5, 9:37 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Alamance, Guilford, Randolph | 53 min |
| May 5, 9:37 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Caswell, Rockingham | 53 min |
| May 6, 1:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Randolph | 45 min |
| May 6, 1:39 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Guilford | 36 min |
| May 6, 1:45 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Davidson, Davie, Forsyth, Rowan | 45 min |
| May 6, 1:47 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Rockingham | 43 min |
| May 6, 2:04 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Alamance, Caswell | 26 min |
| May 6, 2:28 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Alamance, Caswell | 32 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.