Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Columbia, SC

April 4, 1989Lexington County, Richland County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this tornado warning at Apr 4, 1989, 7:29 PM EDT for Lexington County, Richland County, South Carolina. It was in force for 61 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 4, 1989, 7:29 PM EDT (23:29 UTC)
Expired
Apr 4, 1989, 8:30 PM EDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Columbia, SC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Lexington County, SC, Richland County, SC

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

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 155 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1989-04-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 463 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1989-04-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 137 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 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
463 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-75 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
566 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
137 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
173 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCAE 042330
TORCAE
SCC063-079-050030-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
729 PM EDT TUE APR 4 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
          ...LEXINGTON...RICHLAND
 
AT 725 PM EDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED NEAR SOUTH CONGREE IN LEXINGTON
COUNTY...SOUTH CAROLINA. THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST wFLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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 4, 5:19 PM EDT, 2 hours 10 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUGUSTA GA
520 PM EDT TUE APR 4 1989

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF EASTERN GEORGIA AND MUCH
OF SOUTH CAROLINA...THIS INCLUDES ALL COUNTIES IN THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH
RIVER AREA UNTIL 11 PM...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF VERY STRONG THUNDER-
STORMS FROM NORTHWEST SOUTH CAROLINA TO CENTRAL GEROGIA. THIS LINE
IS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 40 MPH.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MOVING INTO THE WESTERN SECTIONS OF THE
CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS. RESIDENTS
OF THE AREA SHOULD BE ALERT FOR STRONG GUSTY WINDS..DANGEROUS LIGHTNING
...HAIL AND POSSIBLE TORNADOES.
Special weather statement, Apr 4, 7:10 PM EDT, 19 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUGUSTA GA
712 PM EDT TUE APR 4 1989

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MOST OF EASTERN GEORGIA AND MUCH
OF SOUTH CAROLINA...THIS INCLUDES ALL COUNTIES IN THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH
RIVER AREA UNTIL 11 PM EDT...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED SCATTERED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
IN A LARGE AREA OF RAIN. THE AREA EXTENDED FROM NEAR DUBLIN GEORGIA
TO NEAR CHESTER SOUTH CAROLINA. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN
SOUTH CAROLINA NEAR EDGEFIELD AND WERE MOVING TOWARD THE EAST AT 50
MPH.

STORM SPOTTERS HAVE REPORTED A VARIETY OF DAMAGING CONDITIONS...RANGING
FROM POWER OUTAGES AND BROKEN TREE LIMBS...ALSO A MOBILE HOME WAS TURNED
OVER IN RICHMOND COUNTY GEORGIA NEAR BUSH FIELD. DAMAGE REPORTS HAVE BEEN
RECIEVED FROM EDGEFIELD COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA TO WESTERN BURKE COUNY
GEORGIA.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Columbia, SC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 4, 6:22 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAENewberry68 min
Apr 4, 6:37 PM EDTTornado WarningCAENewberry68 min
Apr 4, 6:51 PM EDTTornado WarningCAEChester, York69 min
Apr 4, 6:51 PM EDTTornado WarningCAEFairfield69 min
Apr 4, 7:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELexington, Richland56 min
Apr 4, 7:48 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELancaster57 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Carolina, 1989Every tornado warning in 1989Tornadoes in 1989

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.