Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 2, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Apr 4, 1989, 4:42 PM EDT for Oconee County, South Carolina. It was in force for 63 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, 4:42 PM EDT (20:42 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 4, 1989, 5:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 63 min
- Issued by
- NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Oconee 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, 5:35 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Oconee, 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, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 92 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KGSP 042043 RRA
TORGSP
SCC073-042145-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
442 PM EDT TUE APR 4 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 545 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN SOUTH CAROLINA
...OCONEE
AT 440 PM RADAR SHOWED A POSSIBLE TORNADO ABOUT TO ENTER WESTERN
OCONEE COUNTY. THIS THUNDERSTORM HAS CONSISTENTLY PRODUCED REPORTS OF
DAMAGE.
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.
WAJWhat 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, Apr 4, 3:48 PM EDT, 54 minutes before
BULLETIN SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC 346 PM EDT TUE APR 4 1989 AT 330 PM EDT WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS NORTHERN SECTIONS OF GEORGIA. THIS LINE OF STORMS HAS PRODUCED NUMEROUS REPORTS OF WIND DAMAGE...LARGE HAIL...AND SOME TORNADOES ACROSS NORTHERN AND CENTRAL ALABAMA AND NORTHERN GEORGIA. THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING TOWARD THE EAST ABOUT 45 MPH AND COULD AFFECT WESTERN SECTIONS OF THE UPSTATE AS EARLY AS 500 PM EDT. AT THIS TIME...IT IS NOT ENTIRELY CLEAR WHETHER THIS PARTICULAR LINE OF STORMS WILL MAINTAIN ITS CURRENT INTENSIY. HOWEVER...THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE NIGHT. AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS AND OTHER SPOTTER GROUPS IN THE UPSTATE SHOULD BE READY TO ACTIVATE. LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. THIS COULD BECOME A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION FOR UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA. WAJ
Special weather statement, Apr 4, 3:57 PM EDT, 45 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC 400 PM EDT TUE APR 04 1989 ...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR CHEROKEE..GRAHAM..CLAY.. MACON..SWAIN AND JACKSON COUNTIES OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA UNTIL 1000 PM EDT TONIGHT... AT 350 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS NORTHERN GEORGIA TOWARD THE EAST AT ABOUT 35 MILES AN HOUR. A HEAVY THUNDERSTORM ALONG THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THIS LINE IS MOVING INTO SOUTHERN CLAY COUNTY IN NORTH CAROLINA. THE THUNDERSTORMS COULD MOVE ACROSS THE EXTREME SOUTHERN COUNTIES OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN.. DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL. PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS SHOULD TAKE SHELTER UNTIL THEY PASS. OS
The office that day
Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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, 6:16 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Cherokee, Union | 59 min |
| Apr 4, 6:20 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Cherokee | 55 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in South 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.