Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Wilmington, NC

May 20, 1990Beaufort County, Craven County, Jones County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 20, 1990, 6:40 PM EDT for Beaufort County, Craven County, Jones County, North Carolina. It was in force for 65 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 20, 1990, 6:40 PM EDT (22:40 UTC)
Expired
May 20, 1990, 7:45 PM EDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Wilmington, NC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Beaufort County, NC, Craven County, NC, Jones 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 20, 7:00 PM EDTHail 1.75Craven, 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, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 271 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1990-05-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1990-05-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 102 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1318 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
102 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
117 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 KILM 202241
SVRILM
NCC013-049-103-202345-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
640 PM EDT SUN MAY 20 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN EAST NORTH CAROLINA
          ...BEAUFORT...CRAVEN...JONES
 
AT 635 PM A CLUSTER OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WAS JUST SOUTHWEST OF
VANCEBORO IN CRAVEN COUNTY AND EXTENDED INTO NORTHERN JONES COUNTY IN
EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA. THE CLUSTER OF STORMS WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT
35 MPH.
 
 
PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD BE ALERT FOR LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS. FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN CAN OCCUR
WITH ANY THUNDERSTORM.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WINDS CAN REACH SPEEDS OF 60 MPH TO OVER 100
MPH. THESE WINDS BLOW DOWN TREES...POWER LINES...AND SEVERELY
DAMAGE MOBILE HOMES...SOMETIMES BUILDINGS. VERY LARGE HAIL CAN
INJURE ANYONE CAUGHT OUTSIDE.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Wilmington, NC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 20, 4:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMBeaufort39 min
May 20, 7:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMBeaufort, Craven, Pamlico47 min
May 20, 7:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMOnslow47 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.