Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 5, NWS Blacksburg, VA
NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this tornado warning at Apr 27, 1989, 7:07 PM EDT for Forsyth County, North Carolina. It was in force for 68 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 27, 1989, 7:07 PM EDT (23:07 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 27, 1989, 8:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 68 min
- Issued by
- NWS Blacksburg, VA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Forsyth County, NC
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
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 32 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
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
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, 4 hours 1 minute 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
Local storm report, Apr 27, 6:18 PM EDT, 49 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
610 PM EDT THU APR 27 1989
4/27/89 BELOW EVENTS IN SOUTHWEST VA..TIMES APPROXIMATE...
350 TO 405 PM HIGH WINDS WITH TREES DOWN SEVERAL
LOCATIONS AROUND ROANOKE COUNTY AND CITIES OF SALEM
AND ROANOKE. STRAIGHT LINE WIND GUST TO 67 KTS AT
WSO ROANOKE. CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE TO ELEMENTARY SCHOOL.
TWO ENGINE COMMERCIAL PLANE SPUN AROUND AT AIRPORT.
425 PM...SEVERAL LARGE TREES REPORTED DOWN IN NORTH
FRANKLIN COUNTY ALONG ROUTE 220 AND SOME DAMAGE IN ROCKY
MT.
430 PM...COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTS SEVERAL HOUSE
TRAILERS HEAVILY DAMAGED BETWEEN ROCKY MT. AND BOONES
MILL IN FRANKLIN COUNTY, ALSO ALONG ROUTE 220.
430 PM...HEAVY WIND DAMAGE TO GARMENT FACTORY IN NORTH
MARTINSVILLE IN HENRY COUNTY REPORTED BY COMPANY REP WHO
BELIEVES IT WAS A TORNADO.
525 PM...TORNADO REPORTED IN DANVILLE BY VIRGINIA EOC
RELAYED FROM STATE POLICE. CONSIDERABLE
DAMAGE.
END/HMLocal storm report, Apr 27, 6:37 PM EDT, 30 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT...PRELIMINARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LYNCHBURG VA
635 PM EDT THU APR 27 1989
.............LOCAL STORM REPORT.............
TIME LOCATION REPORT
....... .............. ................
4PM-5PM EDT BEDFORD COUNTY DAMAGING WINDS...SEVERAL TREES AND
POWER LINES DOWN.
5PM-515PM CITY OF DANVILLE DAMAGING WINDS...MANY TREES,
EDT POWER LINES D OWN. ONE (1) REPORTED
BLOWN OFF.
GURLEN
NNNNLocal storm report, Apr 27, 6:38 PM EDT, 29 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT...PRELIMINARY...CORRECTION...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LYNCHBURG VA
635 PM EDT THU APR 27 1989
.............LOCAL STORM REPORT.............
TIME LOCATION REPORT
....... .............. ................
4PM-5PM EDT BEDFORD COUNTY DAMAGING WINDS...SEVERAL TREES AND
POWER LINES DOWN.
5PM-515PM CITY OF DANVILLE DAMAGING WINDS...MANY TREES,
EDT ! POWER LINES DOWN. ONE (1) ROOFTOP
BLOWN OFF.
GURLEN
NNNNThe 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, 5:52 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RNK | Caswell | 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.