Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 7, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

April 4, 1989Cherokee County, Union County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 4, 1989, 6:16 PM EDT for Cherokee County, Union County, South Carolina. It was in force for 59 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 4, 1989, 6:16 PM EDT (22:16 UTC)
Expired: Apr 4, 1989, 7:15 PM EDT
In force: 59 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

Counties Cherokee County, SC, Union County, SC

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 4, 6:35 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 0	Union, SC

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 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 185 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 30 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -310 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 670 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 141 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 67 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

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, Apr 4, 5:15 PM EDT, 1 hour 1 minute before

AFTERNOON MOUNTAIN REPORTS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
446 PM EDT TUE  APR 04 1989

STATION         ELEVATION    HIGH     LOW     PCPN
ASHEVILLE        (2170)       72      56      0.10
BLACK MTN.       (2395)       59      55      0.06
BOONE            (3360)       67      53      0.06
BREVARD          (2155)       71      56      0.28
BRYSON CITY      (2000)       63      55      0.67
GRANDFATHER MTN. (5300)       58      46      0.04
MORGANTON        (1193)       76      57      0.01
MT. PISGAH       (5721)       50      40      0.15
MT. MITCHELL     (6684)       MM      MM         M
MURPHY           (1800)       63      56      1.45
SPRUCE PINE      (2500)       64 |     52      1.10
TRYON            (1900)       78      57      0.04
..SOME OF THESE ARE UNOFFICIAL REPORTING STATIONS..
 OS

Special weather statement, Apr 4, 5:17 PM EDT, 59 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLOTTE NC
515 PM EST MON APR 04 1989

THE NATIONAL SEVERE STORMS FORECAST CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH
FOR MOST OF CENTRAL AND WESTERN SOUTH CAROLINA AND FOR PORTIONS OF
SOUTHWESTERN NORTH CAROLINA...INCLUDING CHARLOTTE AND VICINITY...FROM
5 PM EDT UNTIL 11 PM EDT.

THE TORNADO WATCH INCLUDES CHEROKEE...YORK...CHESTER...AND LANCASTER
COUNTIES IN SOUTH CAROLINA.

IN NORTH CAROLINA THE WATCH INCLUDES
CABARRUS...GASTON...CLEVELAND...LINCOLN...UNION...MECKLENBURG...AND
CATAWBA COUNTIES AS WELL AS OTHER COUNTIES IN THE MOUNTAINS AND
FOOTHILLS.

AT 445 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A LARGE AREA OF
SHOWERS AND SOME THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ALNG THE MOUNTAINS AND
FOOTHILLS OF NORTH CAROLINA.

HEAVIEST ACTIVITY EXTENDED FROM NORTHWESTERN SOUTH CAROLINA THROUGH
CENTRAL GEORGIA...WHERE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND SEVERAL TORNADOES
HAVE BEEN REPORTED.

THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF VERY
DAMAGING TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND DAMAGING
THUNDERSTORM WINDS.

THE NEXT STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED AROUND 645 PM EDT.

...CORRECTION FOR TIME ERRORS

JK

Local storm report, Apr 4, 5:23 PM EDT, 53 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
512 PM EDT TUE APR 4 1989

MARBLE HAIL AND 40 KNOTS IN CLEMSON 515 PM.
DIME HAIL ANDERSON AIRPORT 522 PM.
WAJ

Special weather statement, Apr 4, 5:53 PM EDT, 23 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
550 PM EDT TUE  APR 04 1989

...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR
MACON..SWAIN...RUTHERFORD...TRANSYLVANIA..BUNCOMBE..BURKE..MCDOWELL..
HAYWOOD..POLK..AND HENDERSON COUNTIES OF NORTH CAROLINA UNTIL 1100 PM
EDT TONIGHT...
AT 545 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS
MOVING ACROSS WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA AT AROUND 40 MILES AN HOUR.

SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE HEAVY DOWNPOURS..DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS.

THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF VERY
DAMAGING TORNADOES.

PONDING WATER ON ROADS AND POSSIBLE URBAN FLOODING ARE POSSIBLE IN
LOW LYING AND FLOOD PRONE AREAS.  MOTORISTS ARE URGED TO USE EXTREME
CAUTION SO AS TO AVOID HYDROPLANING.  ALSO, PERSONS IN LOW LYING AREAS
SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK HIGHER GROUND.
GRC/OS

Local storm report, Apr 4, 6:00 PM EDT, 16 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
600 PM EDT TUE APR 4 1989

GMU TOWER REPORTS 50 KNOTS NOW.
METERORGIST GREENVILLE ROPER MTOUNTAIN HAIL LARGER THAN DIME
WAJ

Local storm report, Apr 4, 6:07 PM EDT, 9 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
607 PM EDT TUE APR 4 1989

WSO GREER CURRENTLY GUST 62 KNOTS AND 3/4 HAIL.

WAJ

The office that day

Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 4, 6:41 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GSP	Polk, Rutherford	34 min
Apr 4, 6:54 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GSP	Cleveland	51 min
Apr 4, 7:08 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GSP	Gaston	37 min
Apr 4, 7:27 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Mecklenburg	48 min
Apr 4, 4:42 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GSP	Oconee	63 min
Apr 4, 5:06 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Anderson, Pickens	69 min
Apr 4, 5:29 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Abbeville	61 min
Apr 4, 5:35 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GSP	Greenville	55 min
Apr 4, 5:49 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Laurens	56 min
Apr 4, 5:54 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GSP	Spartanburg	66 min
Apr 4, 6:20 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GSP	Cherokee	55 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 1989 Every 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.