Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989
Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this flash flood warning at May 1, 1989, 6:38 PM EDT for Union County, North Carolina. It was in force for 4 hr.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 1, 1989, 6:38 PM EDT (22:38 UTC)
- Expired
- May 1, 1989, 10:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 4 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Union County, NC
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
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 134 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
- 20 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -22 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 520 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 114 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 200 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KCLT 012238
FFWCLT
NCC179-020245-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLOTTE NC
638 PM EDT MON MAY 1 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLOTTE HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
...UNION
FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS IN THE EASTERN PORTION OF UNION COUNTY OF
NORTH CAROLINA HAS BEGUN. FLOODING OF STATE HIGHWAY 205 NORTH OF
MARSHVILLE HAS OCCURRED. AND... THERE HAS BEEN SOME VERY SHALLOW
FLOODING ON HIGHWAY 74 IN AND NEAR MARSHVILLE.
WIDESPREAD RAIN WITH AN OCCASIONAL EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORM THROUGHOUT
THE AREA COMPOUNDS THE THREAT OF FLOODING IN UNION COUNTY EARLY TONIGHT.
EVERYONE IN OR PLANNING TO TRAVEL THROUGH UNION COUNTY SHOULD BE ALERT
FOR FLOODING IN AND CLOSE TO AREAS WHERE HEAVY RAIN IS FALLING OR HAS
OCCURRED.
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATIER COVERS THE
ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this flash flood 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, May 1, 4:30 PM EDT, 2 hours 8 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC 415 PM EDT MON MAY 1 1989 ...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM EDT FOR SOUTH CAROLINA... AT 420 EDT WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LARGE AREA OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS COVERING MOST OF GEORGIA. THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE LOCATED IN SOUTHERN GEORGIA AND THE MIDLANDS OF SOUTH CAROLINA. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTH NORTHEAST NEAR 40 MPH. THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP VERY RAPIDLY IN THE UPSTATE AND COULD PRODUCE SEVERE WEATHER WITH LITTLE WARNING. NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED IN THE UPSTATE. FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS AND LOW LYING AREAS WILL BE POSSIBLE TONIGHT. VALVERDE
Special weather statement, May 1, 4:39 PM EDT, 1 hour 59 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLOTTE NC 440 PM EDT MON MAY 1 1989 ...SPECIAL NOTE FOR ALL MEDIA OUTLETS... PLEASE BROADCAST THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION... SHORTLY BEFORE 4 PM THIS AFTERNOON A TORNADO WATCH WAS ISSUED FOR A LARGE PORTION OF BOTH NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA. APPARENTLY SEVERAL RADIO STATIONS CONFUSED THE WATCH FOR A WARNING AND MADE AN ANNOUNCEMENT THAT THE 4 OCLOCK ISSUANCE WAS A TORNADO WARNING. ...THIS IS UNTRUE... AT 435 THIS AFTERNOON NO TORNADO WARNINGS OR EVEN A THUNDERSTORM WARNING HAD BEEN ISSUED WITHIN THE AREA. EVERYONE SHOULD BE ALERT FOR SEVERE WEATHER AND WARNINGS LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SEVERE WEATHER COULD DEVELOP RAPIDLY... BE PREPARED. RADAR... AT 435 THIS AFTERNOON SHOWED WIDESPREAD RAIN THROUGHOUT THE AREA BUT NO SEVERE WEATHER WAS INDICATED. RON
Special weather statement, May 1, 5:16 PM EDT, 1 hour 22 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLOTTE NC 517 PM EDT MON MAY 1 1989 .... A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM TONIGHT FOR CATAWBA... CLEVELAND... LINCOLN... GASTON... MECKLENBURG... IREDELL... ROWAN... CABARRUS... UNION... ANSON... STANLY... MONTGOMERY... AND RICHMOND COUNTIES ALL IN NORTH CAROLINA.... .... THE FLOOD WATCH ISSUED EARLIER HAS BEEN EXTENDED AND IS IN EFFECT THROUGHOUT THE AREA FOR TONIGHT.... .... IN SOUTH CAROLINA THE SAME TORNADO WATCH INCLUDES CHEROKEE... YORK... CHESTER AND LANCASTER COUNTIES.... AT 510 THIS AFTERNOON WEATHER RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN MOVING INTO SOUTHEASTERN UNION AND SOUTHWESTERN ANSON COUNTIES OF NORTH CAROLINA. THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE LINED UP ON TO THE SOUTHWEST ALL THE WAY TO CAMDEN SOUTH CAROLINA. THE MOVEMENT AND ORIENTATION OF THE STORMS INDICATE MORE THAN ONE HEAVY DOWNPOUR COULD OCCUR IN ANSON COUNTY THIS EVENING. THIS INCREASES THE LIKELIHOOD THAT THERE WILL BE PROBLEMS FROM HIGH WATER IN ANSON COUNTY. STREAMS IN ANSON COUNTY ARE AT OR NEAR BANKFULL AND ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL COULD CAUSE SERIOUS FLOODING IN THAT COUNTY. THE SITUATION IS BEING MONITORED CLOSELY AND WARNINGS MAY BE NECESSARY. IN THE MEANTIME EVERYONE IN OR TRAVELING THROUGH ANSON COUNTY SHOULD BE ALERT FOR STREAM OVERFLOW IN AND NEAR AREAS WHERE HEAVY RAIN OCCURRS THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. THE NEXT STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED AROUND 630 THIS EVENING... BE PREPARED SHOULD WARNINGS BE NEEDED IN THE MEANTIME... KUHN
Special weather statement, May 1, 5:40 PM EDT, 58 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC 540 PM EDT MON MAY 1 1989 ...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM EDT FOR SOUTH CAROLINA... AT 530 PM EDT WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LARGE AREA OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE UPSTATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED IN CENTRAL GEORGIA JUST SOUTHEAST OF ATHENS. THESE STORMS MAY MOVE INTO ABBEVILLE AND GREENWOOD COUNTIES IN SOUTH CAROLINA AS EARLY AS 700 PM EDT. PERSISTENT RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS MAY CAUSE FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS AND LOW LYING AREAS. VALVERDE
Special weather statement, May 1, 6:12 PM EDT, 26 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLOTTE NC 610 PM EDT MON MAY 1 1989 .... A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM TONIGHT FOR CATAWBA... CLEVELAND... LINCOLN... GASTON... MECKLENBURG... IREDELL... ROWAN... CABARRUS... UNION... ANSON... STANLY... MONTGOMERY... AND RICHMOND COUNTIES ALL IN NORTH CAROLINA.... .... IN SOUTH CAROLINA THE SAME TORNADO WATCH INCLUDES CHEROKEE... YORK... CHESTER AND LANCASTER COUNTIES.... .... THE FLOOD WATCH ISSUED EARLIER HAS BEEN EXTENDED AND IS IN EFFECT THROUGHOUT THE AREA FOR TONIGHT.... ... A FLASH FLOOD WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR ANSON COUNTY OF NORTH CAROLINA AND IS VALID UNTIL 945 TONIGHT. ELSEWHERE... WIDESPREAD RAIN WAS INDICATED BY RADAR AT 605 THIS EVENING THROUGHOUT NEARLY ALL OF THE AREA WITHIN 100 MILES OF CHARLOTTE. MOVEMENT OF THE RAIN WAS TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE OCCURRED IN THE SOUTHERN PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA... CATAWBA COUNTY IN THE FOOTHILLS AND RICHMOND COUNTY IN THE SANDHILLS. HOWEVER... RAPID DEVELOPMENT AND INTENSIFICATION OF THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE VIOLENT WEATHER DURING THE TORNADO WATCH THIS EVENING. BE ALERT AND PREPARED IF CONFRONTED 2WITH SEVERE WEATHER. THE NEXT SCHEDULED STATEMENT IS FOR 730 TONIGHT. BE ALERT SHOULD WARNINGS OR STATEMENT UPDATES BE NEEDED IN THE MEANTIME. KUHN
Special weather statement, May 1, 6:38 PM EDT, 0 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC 635 PM EDT MON MAY 1 1989 ...TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF THE UPSTATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA... THE TORNADO WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFE,CT FOR ANDERSON...CHEROKEE... GREENVILLE...OCONEE...PICKENS AND SPARTANBURG COUNTIES IN SOUTH CAROLINA. THE TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR ABBEVILLE... GREENWOOD...LAURENS AND UNION COUNTIES IN THE UPSTATE. VALVERDE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 1, 5:45 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Anson | 4 hr |
Nearby
Flash Flood Warnings in North Carolina, 1989Every flash flood 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.