Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 14, NWS Blacksburg, VA

May 1, 1990Iredell County, Rowan County, North Carolina

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 1, 1990, 7:12 PM EDT for Iredell County, Rowan County, North Carolina. It was in force for 48 min. 2 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, 7:12 PM EDT (23:12 UTC)
Expired
May 1, 1990, 8:00 PM EDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

Counties Iredell County, NC, Rowan 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 1, 7:20 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Iredell, NC
May 1, 7:30 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 0Rowan, 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, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 82 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 1990-05-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 564 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 1990-05-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 50 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
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 012312
SVRGSO
NCC159-097-020000-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 800 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
      SOUTHERN ROWAN...SOUTHERN IREDELL

AT 710 PM RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN THE MOORESVILLE
AREA OF SOUTHERN IREDELL COUNTY. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 30 MPH.

THIS STORM IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO SOUTHERN ROWAN SHORTLY.

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.

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, May 1, 3:02 PM EDT, 4 hours 10 minutes before
VAZALL-012000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
250PM  EDT  TUE MAY 1 1990

  ...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS EXTREME SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...

AT 245PM WEATHER RADAR WAS SHOWING TWO OR THREE VERY HEAVY
THUNDERSTORMS OVER FAR SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA AROUND THE DICKENSON
TO WISE TO RUSSELL COUNTY AREA.  POSSIBLE SEVERE WEATHER WAS
INDICATED OVER A STORM ENTERING DICKENSON COUNTY.

THE STORMS WILL BE MOVING INTO THE AREA CENTERED AROUND SMYTH
COUNTY DURING THE NEXT HOUR SO PERSONS IN THESE COUNTIES AND
THE ADJACENT COUNTIES TO THE EAST...BLAND..WYTHE...AND GRAYSON...
SHOULD STAY ALERT FOR POSSIBLE LIGHTNING...HAIL AND HIGH WINDS
DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS...AND STA\Y TUNED TO RADIO AND TV
BROADCASTS PLUS NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR UPDATES AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS
ON THESE STORMS.
END/MCINTOSH
Special weather statement, May 1, 5:22 PM EDT, 1 hour 50 minutes before
VAZALL-012300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ROANOKE VA
520 PM EDT TUE MAY 1 1990

...THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE ACROSS SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA...

AT 515 PM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS...WITH A FEW
EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN ACROSS SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA.
THE THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE OVER EASTERN CARROLL...
SOUTHERN PATRICK...AND SOUTHWEST HENRY COUNTY. THESE STORMS COULD
PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL AS THEY MOVE TO THE EAST AT 35 MPH.

PEOPLE IN THESE VIRGINIA COUNTIES ALONG THE NORTH CAROLINA BORDER SHOULD
BE ALERT FOR APPROACHING THUNDERSTORMS...AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE
SHELTER.

END/JACKSON

{

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 1, 4:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKAlexander31 min
May 1, 5:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKStokes31 min
May 1, 5:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKIredell31 min
May 1, 5:56 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKIredell49 min
May 1, 6:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKGuilford, Rockingham50 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.