Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 23, NWS Raleigh, NC

May 1, 1990Johnston County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 1, 1990, 8:38 PM EDT for Johnston County, North Carolina. It was in force for 52 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, 8:38 PM EDT (00:38 UTC)
Expired: May 1, 1990, 9:30 PM EDT
In force: 52 min
Issued by: NWS Raleigh, NC
Area: Whole counties

County Johnston 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 1, 8:45 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 0	Johnston, 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 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 152 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 91 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -533 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1132 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -135 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -62 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KRDU 020040
SVRRDU
NCC101-020130-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC
838 PM EDT TUE MAY 1 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  930 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...JOHNSTON COUNTY
 
AT 835 PM EDT...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER EXTREME
SOUTHEAST WAKE COUNTY NEAR THE JOHNSTON COUNTY LINE. THESE STORMS HAVE
BEEN MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 30 TO 35 MPH. NUMEROUS REPORTS OF HIGH
WIND AND HAIL HAVE BEEN REPORTED WITH THESE STORMS.
 
THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED MOVE ACROSS THE CITIES OF
CLAYTON...SMITHFIELD AND SELMA.
 
 
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.

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

Local storm report, May 1, 7:27 PM EDT, 1 hour 11 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
725 PM EDT TUE MAY 01 1990

TIME           EVENT
 710 PM EDT    TREES DOWN 3-4 MILES EAST OF BURLINGTON IN ALAMANCE
               COUNTY, NC.  REPOGRTED BY AMATEUR RADIO OPERATOR.

RFG

Special weather statement, May 1, 7:36 PM EDT, 1 hour 2 minutes before

NCZ005-020100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
730 PM EDT TUE MAY 1 1990

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO THE NORTHEAST PIEDMONT...

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR THE
NORTHEAST PIEDMONT AND MOST OTHER PORTIONS OF CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA.
WEATHER RADAR AT 725 PM EDT SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING
SOUTHEAST AT 30 TO 35 MPH ACROSS CENTRAL DURHAM AND ORANGE COUNTIES
AND EXTREME NORTHWEST CHATHAM COUNTIES.  THESE STORMS HAVE HAD A
HISTORY OF HIGH WIND AND HAIL AS THEY HAVE COME ACROSS THE NORTHERN
PIEDMONT REGION.

AT THEIR CURRENT RATE OF MOVEMENT THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CROSSING
THE TRIANGLE AREA DURING THE TIME U_NTIL 9 PM.

LISTEN TO LOCAL RADIO..TV..OR WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR
POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

RFG

Special weather statement, May 1, 7:48 PM EDT, 50 minutes before

NCZ006-007-009-020130-

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
742 PM EDT TUE MAY 1 1990

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 12 MIDNIGHT EDT FOR THE NORTHERN
   FOOTHILLS AND NORTHWEST PIEDMONT OF NC...

AT 740 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS...SOME
WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...EXTENDING FROM EXTREME SOUTHERN IREDELL COUNTY
NORTHEASTWARD THROUGH THE SOUTHERN PARTS OF ROWAN AND DAVIDSON COUNTIES
TO CENTRAL RANDOLPH COUNTY ALL OF THE NORTHWEST PIEDMONT. THE HEAVIEST STORMS
WERE JUST TO THE SOUTHWEST OF SALISBURY IN ROWAN COUNTY AND THE DENTON AREA
OF DAVIDSON COUNTY. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH.

PERSONS IN SOUTHERN ROWAN...SOUTHERN DAVIDSON AND RANDOLPH COUNTIES SHOULD BE
ON THE LOOKOUT FOR STRONG GUSTY WINDS...VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND FREQUENT.
LIGHTNING. THE INTENSITY OF THESE STORMS HAVE DECREASED SOMEWHAT IN THE LAST
HALF HOUR. SEEK SHELTER WHEN THE STORMS APPROAChH.

GR

Local storm report, May 1, 8:04 PM EDT, 34 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
802 PM EDT TUE MAY 01 1990

TIME           EVENT
 758 PM EDT    ESTIMATED WIND GUSTS 60 MPH IN CARY REPORTED BY AMATEUR
               RADIO OPERATORS.

758PM EDT      MEASURED WIND GUSTS 48 MPH AT NWS RALEIGH-DURHAM APRT.

RFG

Local storm report, May 1, 8:11 PM EDT, 27 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
809 PM EDT TUE MAY 01 1990

TIME           EVENT
 8:05 PM EDT   TREE BLOWN DOWN IN DOWNTOWN RALEIGH
               WINDS ESTIMATED 45 MPH IN NORTH RALEIGH
               REPORTED BY WAKE COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE

RFG

Local storm report, May 1, 8:31 PM EDT, 7 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  GREENSBORO NC
830 PM EDT TUE MAY 1 1990

ATTN SELS...

TIME             EVENT

450 PM EDT       11/2 HAIL IN BOOMER IN THE SOUTHWEST PART OF WILKES COUNTY.

521 PM EDT       MARBLE SIZE HAIL IN SUGARLOAF AREA OF NORTHEAST ALEXANDER
                 COUNTY.

525 PM EDT       MARBLE SIZE HAIL IN REIDSVILLE OF EASTERN ROCKINGHAM COUNTY.

530 PM EDT       QUARTER SIZE HAIL IN DANBURY OF CENTRAL STOKES COUNTY.

635 PM EDT       HAM RADIO OPERATOR REPORTS WIND GUSTS OF 50 TO 60 MPH IN
                 HIGH POINT IN GUILFORD COUNTY.
635 PM EDT       MARBLE SIZE HAIL REPORTED BY WEATHER SERVICE EMPLOYEE
                 IN THE CITY OF GREENSBORO

645 PM EDT       GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL IN GIBSONVILLE OF EASTERN GUILFORD
                 COUNTY REPORTED BY A HAM RADIO OPERATOR.

720 PM EDT       POWER LINE DOWN OVER MANY PARTS OF SOUTHERN IREDELL
                 COUNTY.

GR

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 1, 8:24 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Harnett	66 min
May 1, 9:05 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Wayne, Wilson	55 min
May 1, 9:40 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RAH	Greene, Lenoir	65 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Carolina, 1990 Every 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.