Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 20, NWS Blacksburg, VA

May 2, 1990Alexander County, North Carolina

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 2, 1990, 8:56 PM EDT for Alexander County, North Carolina. It was in force for 34 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 2, 1990, 8:56 PM EDT (00:56 UTC)
Expired: May 2, 1990, 9:30 PM EDT
In force: 34 min
Issued by: NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area: Whole counties

County Alexander 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 2, 9:00 PM EDT	Hail 1.75	Alexander, 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, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 116 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: 246 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 866 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 108 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 348 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGSO 030056
SVRGSO
NCC003-030130-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
856 PM EDT WED MAY 2 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 930 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY

   IN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
      ALEXANDER

AT 850 PM RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST TO THE WEST OF
TAYLORSVILLE IN ALEXANDER COUNTY. MARBLE SIZE HAIL AND TREES DOWN
WERE REPORTED BETWEEN TAYLORSVILLE AND LENIOR. MOVEMENT EAST AT
25 MPH.

IF YOU ARE IN AN AREA THREATENED BY THE STORM..GO TO A REINFORCED
SHELTER AND PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WINDS..LARGE HAIL..VERY HEAVY
DOWNPOURS AND FREgQUENT DEADLY LIGHTNING.

 GR

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 2, 8:03 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Davidson	42 min
May 2, 8:32 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Rowan	43 min
May 2, 8:51 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	RNK	Davidson, Rowan	54 min
May 2, 9:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Davie, Iredell	64 min
May 2, 10:21 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Rowan	54 min
May 2, 10:39 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Davidson	66 min
May 2, 10:55 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RNK	Randolph	50 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.