Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Blacksburg, VA

May 2, 1990Rowan County, North Carolina

NWS Blacksburg, VA issued this tornado warning at May 2, 1990, 7:58 PM EDT for Rowan County, North Carolina. It was in force for 32 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, 7:58 PM EDT (23:58 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 1990, 8:30 PM EDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Blacksburg, VA
Area
Whole counties

County 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 2, 8:33 PM EDTHail 1.75Rowan, 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, 12.0 hours before the alert went out and 75 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 022358
TORGSO
NCC159-030030-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 830 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
      NORTHERN ROWAN

AT 755 PM A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS JUST TO THE NORTHWEST OF CLEVELAND
OF ROWAN COUNTY. MOVEMENT SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.

 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, 7:40 PM EDTTornado WarningRNKIredell35 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.