Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 161, NWS Atlanta, GA

October 1, 1989Barnwell County, South Carolina

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 1, 1989, 8:04 PM EDT for Barnwell County, South Carolina. It was in force for 26 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 1, 1989, 8:04 PM EDT (00:04 UTC)
Expired
Oct 1, 1989, 8:30 PM EDT
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

County Barnwell 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 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 140 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 00:00Z on 1989-10-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 694 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 00:00Z on 1989-10-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 106 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
694 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-34 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
789 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
106 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
185 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
2.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, Oct 1, 2:15 PM EDT, 5 hours 49 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS GA
215 PM EDT SUN SEP 3 1989

 ...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH SOUTH GEORGIA...

AT 210 PM EDT COLUMBUS WEATHER RADAR INDICATED SEVERAL LARGE
THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH TIFT AND COLQUITT COUNTIES IN SOUTH
GEORGIA.  THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

AROUND 130 PM SOME WIND DAMAGE OCCURRED NEAR THE FUNSTON COMMUNITY
IN COLQUITT COUNTY.  IN ADDITION TO STRONG GUSTY WINDS...RESIDENTS
OF SOUTH GEORGIA NEAR THESE THUNDERSTORMS CAN EXPECT DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING...BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL DURING THE
NEXT HOUR OR SO.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER LOCAL TELEVISION
AND RADIO STATIONS FOR FURTHER UPDATES FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE.
Special weather statement, Oct 1, 2:19 PM EDT, 5 hours 45 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTION TO DATE IN HEADING ONLY.
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS GA
215 PM EDT SUN OCT 1 1989

 ...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH SOUTH GEORGIA...

AT 210 PM EDT COLUMBUS WEATHER RADAR INDICATED SEVERAL LARGE
THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH TIFT AND COLQUITT COUNTIES IN SOUTH
GEORGIA.  THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

AROUND 130 PM SOME WIND DAMAGE OCCURRED NEAR THE FUNSTON COMMUNITY
IN COLQUITT COUNTY.  IN ADDITION TO STRONG GUSTY WINDS...RESIDENTS
OF SOUTH GEORGIA NEAR THESE THUNDERSTORMS CAN EXPECT DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING...BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL DURING THE
NEXT HOUR OR SO.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER LOCAL TELEVISION
AND RADIO STATIONS FOR FURTHER UPDATES FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE.
Local storm report, Oct 1, 5:51 PM EDT, 2 hours 13 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT...PRELIMINARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS GA
6 00 PM EDT SUN OCT 1 1989

COUNTY..... COLQUITT
SOURCE..... COLQUIT COUNTY CIVIL DEFENSE
TIME....... 130 PM EDT...011730Z.
LOCATION... STATE HIGHWAY 37 ABOUT 5 MILES WEST OF MOULTRIE...NEAR
   COMMUNITY OF FUNSTON GEORGIA.
TYPE....... TORNADO...FUNNEL SIGHTED BY PUBLIC.
INJURIES... TWO FATALITIES.  ABOUT 20 INJURED.
DAMAGE..... TWELVE MOBILE HOMES DESTROYED.  ONE CHURCH ROOF BLOWN
            OFF.  SEVERAL HOMES HAD LARGE TREES DOWN.
WATCHES.... NONE
WARNINGS... NONE.
MISC....... REPORT RECEIVED BY WSO COLUMBUS AT 445 PM EDT.  PREVIOUS
   INFORMATION...ABOUT 2 PM EDT FROM COLQUITT SHERIFF OFFICE...HAD
   NO APPARENT INJURIES.   PATH OF STORM AND DAMAGE COST NOT YET
   KNOWN.  COLUMBUS...MACON AND WAYCROSS RADARS REPORTED NO UNUSUAL
   ECHOES SUGGESTING ANY SEVERE WEATHER.
Special weather statement, Oct 1, 7:59 PM EDT, 5 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ATLANTA GA
800 PM EDT SUN OCT 1 1989

...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA...

AT 755 PM EDT RADAR SHOWED A BAND OF SHOWERS A FEW
THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHWEST GEORGIA. THIS BAND STRETCHED FROM
DALTON TO CARTERSVILLE TO ATLANTA. THUNDERSTORMS WERE
NEAR ACWORTH...AND ON THE EAST SIDE OF ATLANTA.

BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS CAN BE EXPECTED AS THE BAND OF SHOWERS
MOVES EAST AT 20 MPH. _THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY
WINDS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Atlanta, GA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 1, 8:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCRockdale38 min
Oct 1, 8:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCCherokee, Forsyth46 min
Oct 1, 9:27 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCBarrow, Walton48 min
Oct 1, 10:01 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCClarke, Jackson, Madison59 min
Oct 1, 10:01 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFFCOconee59 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 1989Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.