Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Blacksburg, VA

May 1, 1990Guilford County, Rockingham County, North Carolina

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 1, 1990, 6:10 PM EDT for Guilford County, Rockingham County, North Carolina. It was in force for 50 min. 4 reports 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, 6:10 PM EDT (22:10 UTC)
Expired: May 1, 1990, 7:00 PM EDT
In force: 50 min
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area: Whole counties

Counties Guilford County, NC, Rockingham 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
May 1, 6:15 PM EDT	Hail 1	Rockingham, NC
May 1, 6:30 PM EDT	Hail 1	Guilford, NC
May 1, 6:45 PM EDT	Hail 1	Guilford, NC
May 1, 6:55 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 0	Guilford, 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, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 21 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: 564 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -160 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1024 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 50 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 57 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGSO 012210
SVRGSO
NCC081-157-012300-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
610 PM EDT TUE MAY 1 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
      GUILFORD...ROCKINGHAM

AT 605 PM RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN THE SOUTHWEST
CORNER OF ROCKINGHAM COUNTY JUST TO THE NORTH OF OAK RIDGE.
MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 25 TO 30 MPH.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...FIND SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

 GR

The office that day

Everything else NWS Blacksburg, VA issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 1, 4:59 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Alexander	31 min
May 1, 5:14 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Stokes	31 min
May 1, 5:14 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Iredell	31 min
May 1, 5:56 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Iredell	49 min
May 1, 7:12 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Iredell, Rowan	48 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.