Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

June 6, 1989Rutherford County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Jun 6, 1989, 9:38 PM EDT for Rutherford County, North Carolina. It was in force for 67 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 6, 1989, 9:38 PM EDT (01:38 UTC)
Expired
Jun 6, 1989, 10:45 PM EDT
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Rutherford 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 00:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 197 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 1989-06-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 518 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 1989-06-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 71 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
518 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
646 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
71 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
73 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KAVL 070205 COR
TORAVL
NCC161-070245-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING...CORRECTION%%
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
1004 PM EDT TUE JUN 6 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA
      SOUTHERN RUTHERFORD

AT AT 932 PM EDT A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED NORTH OF SPARTANBURG IN
NORTHERN SOUTH CAROLINA. IT WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT AROUND 20 MILES
AN HOUR AND MOVING INTO SOUTHERN RUTHERFORD COUNTY IN NORTH
CAROLINA.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO, THE SAFEST PLACE IS A BASEMENT.
GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.  IF NO BASEMENT
IS AVAILABLE, SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.
USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

GRC
...CORRECTION FOR TIME...

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, Jun 6, 6:03 PM EDT, 3 hours 35 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
600 PM EDT TUE JUN 6 1989

...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS MOVE INTO UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...

AT 6 OCLOCK THIS EVENING THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED ALONG THE
SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA FOOTHILLS...EXTENDING FROM NORTHERN
GREENVILLE COUNTY...ACROSS PICKENS COUNTY...INTO EAST GEORGIA
NEAR HARTWELL. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST 25 TO
30 MILES AN HOUR.

THE STORMS NEAR HARTWELL GEORGIA WILL LIKELY MOVE ACROSS LAKE
HARTWELL AND INTO ANDERSON COUNTY OF SOUTH CAROLINA WITHIN THE
NEXT HOUR.
MUSGROVE
Special weather statement, Jun 6, 9:00 PM EDT, 38 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
855 PM EDT TUE JUN 6 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE SOUTH CAROLINA FOOTHILLS...

AT 855 PM... THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED ALONG THE FOOTHILLS OF
SOUTH CAROLINA...FROM NEAR LANDRUM TO GREENVILE TO JUST SOUTH OF
ANDERSON.  THE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST ABOUT 25 MILES
AN HOUR.  THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE PRODUCING BERIF HEAVY RAIN AND
FREQUENT LIGHTNING.

THE GREENVILLE AIRPORT REZPORTED THUNDER WITH 14 MPH WIND AT 849 PM.
MUSGROVE

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.