Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 89, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

July 10, 1990Polk County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 10, 1990, 3:00 PM EDT for Polk County, North Carolina. It was in force for 60 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 10, 1990, 3:00 PM EDT (19:00 UTC)
Expired
Jul 10, 1990, 4:00 PM EDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Polk 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

Athens Municipal, GA (KAHN), launched 12:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 180 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 1990-07-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 794 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 1990-07-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -54 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
794 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-134 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1303 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-54 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-15 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 101900
SVRAVL
NCC149-102000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
300 PM EDT TUE JUL 10 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 400 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY

   IN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
      POLK

AT 300 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR
TRYON IN POLK COUNTY DRIFTING SLOWLY SOUTH.

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 PASSEoD.

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, Jul 10, 1:02 PM EDT, 1 hour 58 minutes before
NCZ009-010-011-012-101810-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
110 PM EDT TUE JUL 10 1990

AT 1PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A FEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
DEVELOPING OVER WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WAS
NORTH OF BLACK MOUNTAINS...OTHERS WERE IN TRANSYLVANIA AND HAYWOOD
COUNTIES. LITTLE MOVEMENT WAS INDICATED.

SOME OF THE SHOWERS MAY DEVELOP INTO QUITE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS BEFORE
THEY TAPER OFF LATER THIS EVENING.  THE STRONGER STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE
OF PRODUCING STRONG GUSTY WINDS..HEAVY RAIN AND HAIL AS WELL AS
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

MOUNTAIN RESIDENTS SHOULD KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKY THIS AFTERNOON AND
BE READY TO SEEK SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER DEVELOPS.
REU
Special weather statement, Jul 10, 2:03 PM EDT, 57 minutes before
NCZ010-012-101900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
204 PM EDT TUE JUL 10 1990

AT 155 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN
HAYWOOD..BUNCOMBE AND TRANSYLVANIA COUNTIES OF WESERN NORTH CAROLINA.
THE STRONGEST STORM WAS NEAR THE BUNCOMBE HAYWOOD COUNTY LINE SOUTH OF
CANTON.  THEY WERE MOVING VERY LITTLE..POSSIBLY DRIFTING SLOWLY EAST.

THESE STORMS CONTAIN A LOT OF DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..REMAIN INSIDE OR
MOVE INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR
AREA.

THE STORMS MAY ALSO CONTAIN VERY HEAVY RAIN STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL.
BECAUSE OF THEIR SLOW MOVEMENT FLOODING OF STREETS AND LOW LYING AREAS
IS POSSIBLE.

TH,E SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
FOR THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EARLY EVENING.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 10, 4:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCatawba43 min
Jul 10, 5:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPMecklenburg49 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.