Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 19, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

June 5, 1989Spartanburg County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Jun 5, 1989, 5:59 PM EDT for Spartanburg County, South Carolina. It was in force for 46 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: Jun 5, 1989, 5:59 PM EDT (21:59 UTC)
Expired: Jun 5, 1989, 6:45 PM EDT
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Spartanburg 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
Jun 5, 6:11 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 0	Spartanburg, 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, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 162 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: 1390 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 739 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 63 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 45 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KGSP 052201
TORGSP
SCC083-052245-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
559 PM EDT MON JUN 5 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
          ...EASTERN SPARTANBURG
 
A TORNADO WAS OBSERVED TO BE POSSIBLY FORMING NEAR THE CITY OF
SPARTANBURG MOVING NORTHEAST 30 MPH.
 
PEOPLE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE
ACTION TO PROTECT THEIR LIVES. GO TO YOUR BASEMENT...THE CENTER OF
BUILDINGS...COVER YOUR HEAD. DO NOT GO NEAR DOORS OR WINDOWS. GET
OUT OF MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES. GET INTO A STURDY BUILDING OR A
DITCH.

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

Local storm report, Jun 5, 5:17 PM EDT, 42 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
514 PM EDT MON JUN 5 1989

513 PM EDT        WIND DAMAGE.  POWER LINES DOWN. SENECA AND WALHALLA
                  AREAS.  EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS.

WAJ/GSP}

Local storm report, Jun 5, 5:27 PM EDT, 32 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
525 PM EDT MON JUN 5 1989

516 PM EDT        SMALL TREES DOWN AND POWER LINES DOWN EASLEY IN
                  PICKENS COUNTY. SPOTTERS.

WAJ/GSP

Local storm report, Jun 5, 5:47 PM EDT, 12 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NORTH CAROLINA
 544 EDT MON JUN 5 1989

 3/4 INCH HAIL SOUTH OF TRYON ON I-26 IN POLK COUNTY AT 537 EDT.

TREES DOWN IN SOUTHERN RUTHERFORD COUNTY NEAR U.S. 74.
AS

Local storm report, Jun 5, 5:49 PM EDT, 10 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NORTH CAROLINA
548 EDT MON JUN 5 1989  CORRECTION

3/4 INCH HAIL SOUTH OF TRYON ON I-26 IN POLK COUNTY AT 537 EDT.

TREES DOWN IN SOUTHERN RUTHERFORD COUNTY NEAR U.S. 74. AT 540 PM EDT.
AS

Local storm report, Jun 5, 5:53 PM EDT, 6 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
525 PM EDT MON JUN 5 1989

535-545 PM EDT    NUMEROUS REPORTS WIND DAMAGE GREENVILLE AND VICINITY.
548     PM EDT    DIME HAIL NORTH OF LYMAN IN SPARTANBURG COUNTY AND
                  HIGH WINDS PELHAM BATESVILLE AREA EMERGENCY PREP.
530 PM     EDT    NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN PICKENS TO
                  LIBERTY.

REFERENCE EARLIER REPORT FROM EASLEY...PERSON TRAPPED IN VEHICLE FROM
DOWNED POWER LINES.

WAJ/GSP

Special weather statement, Jun 5, 5:58 PM EDT, 1 minute before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLOTTE NC
550 PM EDT MON JUN 5 1989

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 THIS EVENING FOR
MUCH OF NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA.   INCLUDING...BUT NOT LIMITED TO
CLEVELAND...CATAWBA...LINCOLN...GASTON...MECKLENBURG...CABARRUS...
UNION...ANSON..STANLY...MONTGOMERY...RICHMOND...IREDELL...AND ROWAN
COUNTIES OF NORTH CAROLINA...AND CHEROKEE...YORK...CHESTER...AND
LANCASTER COUNTIES OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

AT 545 PM...CHARLOTTE WEATHER RADAR SHOWED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
COVERING MUCH OF THE WESTERN AND CENTRAL CAROLINAS.  A LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS ...EXTENDED FROM JUST NORTH OF HICKORY ACROSS BURKE AND
RUTHERFORD COUNTIES OF NORTH CAROLINA INTO SPARTANBURG COUNTY OF
SOUTH CAROLINA.  THE LINE WAS MOVING TOWARD THE EAST SOUTHEAST AROUND
20 MPH.  THIS MOVEMENT WILL BRING THE STORMS INTO CATAWBA AND
CLEVELAND COUNTIES OF NORTH CAROLINA AND INTO CHEROKEE COUNTY OF
SOUTH CAROLINA BEFORE 630 THIS EVENING.

THESE STORMS WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS...HEAVY
RAINS AND LIGHTNING...AND POSSIBLE HAIL.

THE NEXT STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED AROUND 745 THIS EVENING.

CLARK

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 5, 4:27 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Cherokee	33 min
Jun 5, 4:52 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Anderson, Oconee	68 min
Jun 5, 5:13 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Pickens	62 min
Jun 5, 5:21 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Greenville	69 min
Jun 5, 5:33 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Spartanburg	57 min
Jun 5, 5:39 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Laurens, Union	66 min
Jun 5, 6:10 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Cherokee	65 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Carolina, 1989 Every tornado warning in 1989 Tornadoes 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.