Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Charleston, SC

July 23, 1989Charleston County, South Carolina

NWS Charleston, SC issued this tornado warning at Jul 23, 1989, 11:44 AM EDT for Charleston County, South Carolina. It was in force for 46 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 23, 1989, 11:44 AM EDT (15:44 UTC)
Expired
Jul 23, 1989, 12:30 PM EDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Charleston 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, 3.7 hours before the alert went out and 18 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 1989-07-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1889 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1989-07-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -1 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1889 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
615 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
45 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 KCHS 231544
TORCHS
SCC019-231630-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
1144 AM EDT SUN JUL 23 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1230 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
          ...CHARLESTON
 
AT 11.35 AM EDT THE CHARLESTON CONTROL TOWER AT CHARLESTON
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT REPORTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 4 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
CHARLESTON AIRPORT MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH AT 15 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR.

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, Jul 23, 7:33 AM EDT, 4 hours 11 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON, SC
727 AM EDT SUN JUL 23 1989

THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINS WERE FROM SOUTH OF SAVANNAH TO
HARDEEVILLE.  OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVLOPING ON THE WESTERN EDGE OF
JASPER AND HAMPTON COUNTIES.  A SMALL CLUSER OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS
LOCATED JUST NORTH OF EDISTO BEACH.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTH-NORTHWEST AT 20 MILES
AN HOUR AND WILL CAUSE SOME FLOODING IN PLACES WITH POOR DRAINAGE.
VERY POOR VISIBILITY WILL OCCUR ALONG I95 NEAR THE GEORGIA - SOUTH
CAROLINA BORDER ALONG WITH PONDING OF WATER ON THE HIWAY.

SIMPSON
Special weather statement, Jul 23, 8:45 AM EDT, 2 hours 59 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON, SC
840 AM EDT SUN JUL 23 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN OVER SOUTHERN COASTAL SECTIONS...

AT 8.30 AM...A THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS LOCATED OVER THE
SOUTHERN COASTAL SECTION OF SOUTH CAROLINA...NEAR BEAUFORT.  THIS STORM
IS MOVING NORTHWARD AND WILL CAUSE LOCALLY HEAVY DOWNPOURS...GUSTY
WINDS...AND CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING.  SOME FLOODING IS LIKELY IN
THOSE AREAS WITH POOR DRAINAGE.  MOTORISTS IN THIS AREA SHOULD
EXERCISE CAUTION AND ALLOW EXTRA TIME FOR TRAVEL.

OTHER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALONG THE SAVANNAH RIVER...NEAR
ALLENDALE.

MOVEMENT OF ALL RAIN WAS TOWARDS THE NORTH AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

HSA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 23, 12:43 PM EDTTornado WarningCHSCharleston47 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.