Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 11, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at May 5, 1989, 4:37 PM EDT for Union County, North Carolina. It was in force for 38 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
- May 5, 1989, 4:37 PM EDT (20:37 UTC)
- Expired
- May 5, 1989, 5:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 38 min
- 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 4:45 PM EDT | Hail 2 | Union, NC |
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
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- NaN m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 33 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 213 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 239 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
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 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, May 5, 2:50 PM EDT, 1 hour 47 minutes before
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</html>Special weather statement, May 5, 3:57 PM EDT, 40 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLOTTE NC 400 PM EDT FRI MAY 5 1989 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY INCREASING OVER THE FOOTHILLS AND SOUTHERN PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA... AT 355 THIS AFTERNOON WEATHER RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN OVER THE NORTHERN TWO THIRDS OF MECKLENBURG COUNTY INCLUDING CHARLOTTE... GASTON... LINCOLN ... CLEVELAND... CATAWBA AND RUTHERFORD COUNTIES OF NORTH CAROLINA. MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS WAS TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. EVERYONE THROUGHOUT THE SOUTHERN PIEDMONT AS WELL AS CATAWBA COUNTY OF NORTH CAROLINA SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR RAPIDLY DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY BRIEF PERIODS OF VERY HEAVY RAIN... DEADLY LIGHTNING AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS. EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING WAS ISSUED FOR UNION COUNTY OF NORTH CAROLINA. HAIL TO ONE INCH IN DIAMETER OCCURRED NEAR MARSHVILLE. THAT SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EXPIRED AT 330 THIS AFTERNOON. MOTORIST IN AND AROUND CHARLOTTE SHOULD BE ALERT FOR POOLING OF WATER IN LOW LYING AREA THIS AFTERNOON. FLOODING OF CULVERTS AND LOW LYING AREAS IS LIKELY. THE NE>XT STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED JUST BEFORE 5 PM. HOWEVER... THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT WARNINGS WILL BE NEEDED IN THE MEANTIME... BE PREPARED AND TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION IF SEVERE WEATHER IS OBSERVED. KUHN
Special weather statement, May 5, 4:30 PM EDT, 7 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC 245 PM EDT FRI MAY 5 1989 ...TORNADO WATCH FOR OCONEE.. PICKENS.. GREENVILLE.. SPARTANBURG.. ANDERSON.. AND ABBEVILLE COUNTIES OF SOUTH CAROLINA UNTIL 9PM... SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE INCREASING OVER THE SOUTH CASROLINA UPSTATE THIS AFTERNOON. AT 240 PM NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING RAPIDLY THROUGH THE NORTHWESTERN COUNTIES OF THE PALMETTO STATE.. WITH HEAVY RAIN FALLING IN NORTHERN GREENVILLE COUNTY AND NEAR LAKE GREENWOOD. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST ABOUT 40 MILES AN HOUR. THE ATMOSPHERE OVER THE SOUTH CAROLINA IS VERY UNSTABLE AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS PERSONNEL IN ABBEVILLE REPORTED HEAVY RAIN FALLING AT 225 PM. MUSGROVE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 4:37 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Union | 38 min |
| May 5, 11:32 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Union | 43 min |
| May 5, 3:03 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Union | 27 min |
| May 5, 4:51 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Anson | 39 min |
| May 5, 5:28 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Montgomery | 47 min |
| May 5, 5:38 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Anson | 37 min |
| May 5, 6:20 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Henderson, Polk, Transylvania | 115 min |
| May 5, 6:29 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Buncombe | 2 hr |
| May 5, 7:01 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Burke, McDowell, Rutherford | 119 min |
| May 5, 7:09 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Catawba, Cleveland | 51 min |
| May 5, 7:17 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Gaston, Lincoln | 58 min |
| May 5, 7:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Mecklenburg | 60 min |
| May 5, 7:39 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Caldwell | 96 min |
| May 5, 7:39 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Caldwell | 31 min |
| May 5, 5:21 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Anderson, Oconee | 69 min |
| May 5, 5:24 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Pickens | 66 min |
| May 5, 5:36 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Abbeville | 69 min |
| May 5, 5:51 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Greenville | 69 min |
| May 5, 6:01 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Greenwood, Laurens | 59 min |
| May 5, 6:18 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Laurens, Spartanburg | 57 min |
| May 5, 6:36 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Cherokee, Union | 44 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in North 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.