Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 4, NWS Blacksburg, VA
NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this tornado warning at Apr 27, 1989, 5:52 PM EDT for Caswell County, North Carolina. It was in force for 68 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
- Apr 27, 1989, 5:52 PM EDT (21:52 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 27, 1989, 7:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 68 min
- Issued by
- NWS Blacksburg, VA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Caswell 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 27, 6:20 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 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 62 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
- 207 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -161 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 933 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 39 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 138 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 237 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KGSO 272154
TORGSO
NCC033-272300-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
552 PM EDT THU APR 27 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENSBORO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
...CASWELL
REPORT OF FUNNEL CLOUD AND MANY TREES DOWN ACROSS A LARGE PATH.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINLDOWS.
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.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, Apr 27, 3:06 PM EDT, 2 hours 46 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA 300 PM EDT THU APR 27 1989 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH WHICH IS IN EFFECT FROM 245 PM TO 900 PM EDT. THE COUNTIES IN THE WATCH AREA...BLAND...BOTETOURT...CARROLL...CRAIG... FLOYD...FRANKLIN...GILES...GRAYSON...HENRY...MONTGOMERY...PULASKI... ROANOKE...WYTHE. ALSO INCLUDED IN THE WATCH AREA ARE THE INDEPENDENT CITIES OF GALAX...MARTINSVILLE...RADFORD...ROANOKE...SALEM. AT 300 PM EDT...WEATHER RADAR DETECTS A NEARLY SOLID LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS EXTREME WEST CENTRAL VIRGINIA NEAR HOT SPRINGS SOUTHWEST ACROSS INTO SOUTHERN WEST VIRGINIA AT LEWISBURG WEST TO BECKLEY. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL BE APPROACHING THE VIRGINIA COUNTIES OF CRAIG...GILES...AND BLAND BY 330 PM. PERSONS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS. LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING COULD BE PRODUCED BY THESE STORMS AS THEY MOVE INTO VIRGINIA. PLEASE MONITOR YOUR LOCAL TV...RADIO..OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS AND FURTHER UPDATES. ' END/CACCIAPAGLIA
The office that day
Everything else NWS Blacksburg, VA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 26, 10:36 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Forsyth, Guilford | 69 min |
| Apr 27, 4:20 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Davie | 55 min |
| Apr 27, 4:23 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RNK | Forsyth | 67 min |
| Apr 27, 4:50 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Surry | 55 min |
| Apr 27, 5:07 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Forsyth | 68 min |
| Apr 27, 5:43 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Forsyth | 62 min |
| Apr 27, 7:07 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Forsyth | 68 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.