Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Blacksburg, VA

May 5, 1989Caswell County, Rockingham County, North Carolina

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this tornado warning at May 5, 1989, 9:37 PM EDT for Caswell County, Rockingham County, North Carolina. It was in force for 53 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, 9:37 PM EDT (01:37 UTC)
Expired: May 5, 1989, 10:30 PM EDT
In force: 53 min
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Caswell County, NC, 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, 10:08 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 0	Caswell, 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, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 47 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: 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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGSO 060137
TORGSO
NCC001-081-033-151-157-060230-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
937 PM EDT FRI MAY 5 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
      ALAMANCE...EASTERN GUILFORD...CASWELL...RANDOLPH...
      EASTERN ROCKINGHAM

AT 930 PM A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH POSSIBLE
TORNADOES EXTENDED FROM EAST ROCKINGHAM COUNTY TO WESTERN
RANDOLPH COUNTY.  TORNADOES WERE REPORTED OVER GUILFORD
COUNTY NEAR OAK RIDGE ABOUT 910 PM AND NEAR SOPHIA IN
RANDOLPH COUNTY ABOUT 917 PM.

THE SfTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 60 MPH.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

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, 8:57 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Rockingham	33 min
May 5, 9:37 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Alamance, Guilford, Randolph	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, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.