Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC

May 13, 1990Bertie County, North Carolina

NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued this tornado warning at May 13, 1990, 5:42 PM EDT for Bertie County, North Carolina. It was in force for 63 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 13, 1990, 5:42 PM EDT (21:42 UTC)
Expired
May 13, 1990, 6:45 PM EDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Bertie 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

Cape Hatteras, NC (KHAT), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 159 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, Cape Hatteras, NC at 12:00Z on 1990-05-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 23 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Cape Hatteras, NC at 12:00Z on 1990-05-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 52 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
23 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
890 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
91 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 KHAT 132141
TORHAT
NCC015-041-073-132245-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CAPE HATTERAS NC
542 PM EDT SUN MAY 13 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CAPE HATTERAS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
          ...NORTHEASTERN BERTIE...WESTERN CHOWAN...CENTRAL GATES
 
A TORNADO WAS SPOTTED IN THE HOLY GROVE CHURCH AREA OF NORTHEASTERN
BERTIE COUNTY. THE TORNATO WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
IF YOU LIVE IN A HOME OR APARTMENT...SEEK SHELTER IN THE
INNERMOST PORTION OF THE BUILDING ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  GET TO
A BASEMENT IF ONE IS AVAILABLE.  AVOID WINDOWS AND PROTECT YOUR
BODY FROM FLYING DEBRIS WITH CUSHIONS...BLANKETS...OR PILLOWS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Newport/Morehead City, NC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 13, 5:42 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXChowan, Gates63 min
May 13, 6:18 PM EDTTornado WarningMHXPerquimans27 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 1990Every tornado warning in 1990Tornadoes 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.