Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Blacksburg, VA

May 2, 1990Iredell County, North Carolina

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this tornado warning at May 2, 1990, 7:40 PM EDT for Iredell County, North Carolina. It was in force for 35 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 2, 1990, 7:40 PM EDT (23:40 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 1990, 8:15 PM EDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County Iredell 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, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 93 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 1990-05-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1990-05-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 57 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
151 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 KGSO 022340
TORGSO
NCC097-030015-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENSBORO NC
740 PM EDT WED MAY 2 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 815 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
      CENTRAL IREDELL

AT 737 PM THE SHERIFF DEPARTMENT IN STATESVILLE OF IREDELL COUNTY
REPORTS A TORNADO NEAR I-40 AND MEMORIAL HOSPITAL. MOVEMENT
SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE IS IN
A BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...FIND SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS..PILLOWS..
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON MOBILE
HOMES FOR STRONG STRUCTURES.

 GR

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 6:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKWilkes, Yadkin41 min
May 2, 6:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKAlexander51 min
May 2, 6:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRNKDavie, Iredell52 min
May 2, 7:58 PM EDTTornado WarningRNKRowan32 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 1990Every tornado warning in 1990Tornadoes 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.