Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 39, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

May 1, 1990Graham County, Swain County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 1, 1990, 5:14 PM EDT for Graham County, Swain County, North Carolina. It was in force for 61 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 1, 1990, 5:14 PM EDT (21:14 UTC)
Expired
May 1, 1990, 6:15 PM EDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Graham County, NC, Swain 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 1, 5:30 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Graham, 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

Athens Municipal, GA (KAHN), launched 12:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 167 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Athens Municipal, GA at 12:00Z on 1990-05-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 870 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Athens Municipal, GA at 12:00Z on 1990-05-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -82 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
870 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-193 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1111 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-82 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-178 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 KAVL 012114
SVRAVL
NCC075-173-012215-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
514 PM EDT TUE MAY 1 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 615 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
      GRAHAM...SWAIN

AT 508 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDER-
STORM IN MONROE COUNTY TENNESSEE MOVING EAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.
THIS STORM WILL MOVE INTO GRAHAM AND SWAIN COUNTIES WITHIN THE
NEXT FEW MINUTES.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE, SEEK 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 FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

SLUDER

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 1, 12:00 PM EDT, 5 hours 14 minutes before
SCZ001>004-011800

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
1159 AM EDT TUE MAY 1 1990

...HOT SUMMER LIKE WEATHER SETTLES OVER THE UPSTATE...

TEMPERATURES WERE CLIMBING SHARPLY DURING THE MORNING HOURS
IN NORTHWESTERN SOUTH CAROLINA...AND RECORD HIGH TEMPERATURES
ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON. AT THE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG
AIRPORT THE RECORD HIGH FOR THE 1ST DAY OF MAY IS 89 DEGREES
...AND THE FORECAST CALLS FOR A HIGH TODAY IN THE LOW 90S.

THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BECOME VERY UNSTABLE WITH THE AFTERNOON
HEATING...THUS PRODUCING SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS. A FEW UPSTATE
COMMUNITIES MAY EXPERIENCE A POSSIBLE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM...
WITH STRONG GUSTY WIND...AND HAIL...LATER THIS A/FTERNOON OR
EVENING.

YOU MAY WISH TO CHECK NOAA WEATHER RADIO OFTEN TODAY FOR THE
LATEST STATEMENTS OR BULLETINS.
MUSGROVE
Special weather statement, May 1, 3:38 PM EDT, 1 hour 36 minutes before
NCZ007-009-010-011-012-012230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
345 PM EDT TUE  MAY 01 1990

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF WESTERN NORTH
CAROLINA UNTIL 9 PM...

AT 330 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWS A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS
IN EASTERN TENNESSEE JUST WEST OF KNOXVILLE MOVING TOWARD THE EAST AT
ABOUT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO EXTREME WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.  SOME OF THE HEAVIER STORMS MAY
PRODUCE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF ONE OF THESE STORMS..TAKE SLELTER UNTIL IT
PASSES.

STAY TUNED TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADIO FOR THE LATEST
STATEMENTS AND WARNINGS.   YOU WILL HEAR IT FIRST ON THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE RADIO.

THE NEXT STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED AROUND 6 PM.

OS
Special weather statement, May 1, 5:07 PM EDT, 7 minutes before
NCZ007-012200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLOTTE NC
500 PM EDT TUE MAY 01 1990

... A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF WESTERN
NORTH CAROLINA INCLUDING CATAWBA COUNTY UNTIL 9 PM EDT ...

AT 5 PM ... CHARLOTTE WEATHER RADAR SHOWED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN COVERING MUCH OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA.  THESE
VERY ACTIVE THUNDERSTORMS REACHED FROM NEAR ASHEVILLE NORTHEASTWARD
TO JUST WEST OF GREENSBORO.  ALL THE PRECIPITATION WAS MOVING TOWARD
THE EAST BETWEEN 30 AND 40 MPH.

EVERYONE IN AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR POSSIBLE
WARNINGS OR REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER.

THE NEXT STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED BY THIS OFFjICE JUST BEFORE 7 PM
EDT.

CLARK

The office that day

Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 1, 5:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPAvery58 min
May 1, 5:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPPolk, Rutherford66 min
May 1, 5:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCherokee58 min
May 1, 6:18 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCaldwell57 min
May 1, 6:45 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPPolk, Rutherford60 min
May 1, 6:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPBurke69 min
May 1, 7:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPGaston69 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Carolina, 1990Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1990

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.