Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 74, NWS Raleigh, NC

August 16, 1990Chatham County, Orange County, North Carolina

NWS Raleigh, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 16, 1990, 12:42 PM EDT for Chatham County, Orange County, North Carolina. It was in force for 63 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 16, 1990, 12:42 PM EDT (16:42 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 1990, 1:45 PM EDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Raleigh, NC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Chatham County, NC, Orange 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 4.7 hours before the alert went out and 68 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 1990-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1735 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1990-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -7 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
1735 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-22 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
697 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-7 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
52 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 KRDU 161645
SVRRDU
NCC037-135-161745-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM NC
1242 PM EDT THU AUG 16 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RALEIGH/DURHAM HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  145 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...CHATHAM COUNTY...SOUTHWESTERN ORANGE COUNTY
 
AT 1245 PM EDT RADAR SHOWED A CLUSTER OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER
EASTERN AND SOUTHERN ALAMANCE COUNTIES. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE
MOVING TO SOUTHEAST INTO SOUTHWEST ORANGE AND NORTHERN CHATHAM
COUNTIES AND WILL BE AFFECTING THESE COUNTIES DURING THE NEXT HOUR.
 
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

Special weather statement, Aug 16, 11:22 AM EDT, 1 hour 20 minutes before
NCZALL-161800-
NCZ003>005-014-015-DDHHMM-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
1120 AM EDT THU AUG 16 1990

SKYWARN OUTLOOK...THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS MUCH OF NORTH CAROLINA. SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS HAVE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.

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

JBP
Special weather statement, Aug 16, 11:22 AM EDT, 1 hour 20 minutes before
NCZALL-161800-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH/DURHAM, NC
1120 AM EDT THU AUG 16 1990

SKYWARN OUTLOOK...THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS MUCH OF NORTH CAROLINA. SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS HAVE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.

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

JBP
Special weather statement, Aug 16, 12:12 PM EDT, 30 minutes before
NCZ006-161600-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
1205 PM EDT THU AUG 16 1990

AT 1205 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS WITH
VERY HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLE HAIL OVER NORTHEAST GUILFORD COUNTY
MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.  OTHER THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCURRING
OVER THE COUNTIES OF STOKES, FORSYTH, ROCKINGHAM AND ALAMANCE.

ALONG WITH THE VERY HEAVY RAIN THIS THUNDERSTORM MAY PRODUCE...
...FREQUENT DEADLY LIGHTNING...GUSTY WINDS, HAIL AND SOME MINOR
FLOODING OF STREAMS AND ROADS.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM THEN BE ON THE ALERT FOR
THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE SAFE SHELTER
IF THE STORM  APPROACHES.

JMS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 15, 10:37 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHPitt3 hr
Aug 15, 11:15 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningRAHGreene3 hr
Aug 16, 1:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHChatham43 min
Aug 16, 3:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHMoore58 min
Aug 16, 4:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHHoke, Moore, Scotland42 min
Aug 16, 7:18 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRAHWake42 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.