Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 15, 1987, 3:56 AM EDT for Clay County, North Carolina. It was in force for 64 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
- Apr 15, 1987, 3:56 AM EDT (07:56 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 15, 1987, 5:00 AM EDT
- In force
- 64 min
- Issued by
- NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Clay 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 15, 4:15 AM EDT | Hail 1.5 | Clay, 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
Athens Municipal, GA (KAHN), launched 00:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 130 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 569 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -13 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 646 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 254 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 369 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.5
- Supercell composite
- 2.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KAVL 150756 SVRAVL NCC043-150900- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC 356 AM EDT WED APR 15 1987 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 500 AM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF NORTH CAROLINA... CLAY AT 345 AM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHERN GEORGIA MOVING NORTH-NORTHEAST AT ABOU T 35 MILES AN HOUR TOWARD CLAY COUNTY IN NORTH CAROLINA. PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD BE ALERT FOR LARGE HAIL... DAMAGING WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN. OS
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, Apr 15, 2:04 AM EDT, 1 hour 52 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC 200 AM EDT WED APR 15 1987 AT 130 AM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWS SEVERAL STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHERN GEORGIA..EASTERN TENNESSEE AND NORTHERN SOUTH CAROLINA. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL MOVE INTO WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA DURING THE NEXT HOUR. SOME OF THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG WINDS..BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS..AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. PERSONS LIVING IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS SHOULD SEEK SHELTER UNTIL THEY PASS. THE NEXT STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED WHEN NEEDED. OS
Local storm report, Apr 15, 3:07 AM EDT, 49 minutes before
STORM REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NORTH CAROLINA 305 AM EDT WED APR 15 1987 CHEROKEE COUNTY SHERIFFS DEPARTMENT REPORTED A LARGE TREE BLOWN DOWN IN ANDREWS NORTH CAROLINA AT 245 AM EDT. ANDREWS IS IN NORTHEAST CHEROKEE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA. ALSO, A HOUSE WAS SET ON FIRE BY LIGHTNING AT APPROX 245 AM EDT IN THE PEACHTREE COMMUNITY IN CHEROKEE COUNTY NORTH CAROLINA. OS/0308EDT
Special weather statement, Apr 15, 3:10 AM EDT, 46 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLOTTE NC 310 AM EDT WED APR 15 1987 AT 3 O'CLOCK THIS MORNING...CHARLOTTE WEATHER RADAR DETECTED A BAND OF VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM NEAR BOONE...NORTH CAROLINA TO JUST NORTH OF SPARTANBURG...SOUTH CAROLINA. THIS BAND OF VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WAS ABOUT 20 MILES WIDE AND WAS MOVING TOWARD THE EAST AT ABOUT 25 MILES AN HOUR. THIS MOVEMENT WILL BRING HEAVY SHOWERS AND POSSIBLY VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS CLEVELAND AND INTO THE CENTRAL SECTIONS OF CATAWBA...LINCOLN...AND GASTON COUNTIES OF NORTH CAROLINA BY AROUND 4 THIS MORNING. THESE STORMS MAY BE ACCOMPANIED BY STRONG GUSTY WINDS...BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND VIVID LIGHTNING AND SMALL HAIL. THE NEXT STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED AROUND 5 THIS MORNING. CLARK
The office that day
Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 15, 2:44 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Cherokee | 56 min |
| Apr 15, 8:42 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Polk | 58 min |
| Apr 15, 11:17 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Mecklenburg | 63 min |
| Apr 15, 2:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Mecklenburg | 60 min |
| Apr 15, 4:09 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Mecklenburg | 31 min |
| Apr 15, 4:54 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Mecklenburg | 46 min |
| Apr 15, 5:34 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Union | 56 min |
| Apr 15, 5:59 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Mecklenburg | 51 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Carolina, 1987Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1987
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.