Alert archive / Delaware / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 43, NWS Wilmington, NC

July 12, 1990Sussex County, Delaware

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 12, 1990, 6:26 PM EDT for Sussex County, Delaware. It was in force for 64 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 12, 1990, 6:26 PM EDT (22:26 UTC)
Expired
Jul 12, 1990, 7:30 PM EDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Wilmington, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Sussex County, DE

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

Wallops Is Stn, VA (KWAL), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 84 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 1990-07-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1302 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, Wallops Is Stn, VA at 12:00Z on 1990-07-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 165 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
1302 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-50 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
576 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
165 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
186 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
2.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KILG 122227
SVRILG
DEC005-122330-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON DE
626 PM EDT THU JUL 12 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN SOUTH DELAWARE
 
   ...SUSSEX COUNTY
 
 
WEATHER RADAR SHOWS A POSSIBLE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR SEAFORD IN
WESTERN SUSSEX COUNTY. IT IS MOVING TOWARD THE EAST AT 25 MPH. A
SPOTTER IN SEAFORD REPORTED SOME STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND FREQUENT
LIGHTNING.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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 12, 3:48 PM EDT, 2 hours 38 minutes before
FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

DS
Special weather statement, Jul 12, 3:49 PM EDT, 2 hours 37 minutes before
NCZ-016-017-122050-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
345 PM EDT THU JUL 12 1990

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR CENTRAL NORTH
CAROLINA AND PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND WESTERN SOUTH CAROLINA
UNTIL 9 PM TONIGHT...

A LINE OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING ACROSS COASTAL
SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA. PEOPLE IN CRAVEN...JONES...ONSLOW...
CARTERET...PAMLICO...PENDER AND NEW HANOVER COUNTIES AND THE
ADJOINING COASTAL WATERS FROM BOGUE INLET TO WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH
SHOULD BE ALERT FOR HEAVY DOWNPOURS...STRONG GUSTY WIND...FREQUENT
LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLY SMALL HAIL.

AT 325 THIS AFTERNOON THE LINE OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED
FROM NEW BERN TO JUST NORTH OF WILMINGTON. THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS
IS MOVING SLOWLY TO THE SOUTHEAST.
REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

DS
Special weather statement, Jul 12, 4:46 PM EDT, 1 hour 40 minutes before
NCZ-016-017-122140-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
446 PM EDT THU JUL 12 1990

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR CENTRAL
NORTH CAROLINA AND CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA UNTIL 9 PM TONIGHT...
AT 430 THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON...THUNDERSTORMS WERE LINED UP
ALONG THE SEABREEZE WIND SHIFT LINE JUST INLAND FROM THE
CAROLINA BEACHES FROM PAMLICO SOUND TO MYRTLE BEACH AND
GEORGETOWN IN SOUTH CAROLINA.  THE STORMS WITH THE HEAVIEST
PRECIPITATION WERE LOCATED OVER PENDER...ONSLOW...CRAVEN AND
BEAUFORT COUNTIES.  THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST ABOUT
23 MILES AN HOUR.

NO REPORTS OF LARGE HAIL OR DAMAGING WINDS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED
THUS FAR THIS AFTERNOON BUT WEATHER RADAR INDICATED VERY
HEAVY PRECIPITATION...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLE SMALL
HAIL WITH THESE STORMS.  PERSONS IN SOUTH COASTAL AND CENTRAL
COASTAL NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR THESE PHENOMENA
AS LONG AS SUNLIGHT KEEPS HEATING MOIST UNSTABLE AIR THE
REST OF THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED OVER THE PIEDMONT FROM NORTHERN
SOUTH CAROLINA THROUGH THE GREENSBORO AREA OF NORTH CAROLINA
INTO CENTRAL VIRGINIA.

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Delaware, 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.