Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 23, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

November 15, 1989Laurens County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Nov 15, 1989, 3:30 PM EST for Laurens County, South Carolina. It was in force for 46 min. 2 reports 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
Nov 15, 1989, 3:30 PM EST (20:30 UTC)
Expired
Nov 15, 1989, 4:16 PM EST
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Laurens 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Nov 15, 3:55 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 0Laurens, SC
Nov 15, 4:10 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 0Laurens, 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, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 133 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, Athens Municipal, GA at 12:00Z on 1989-11-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 26 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, Athens Municipal, GA at 12:00Z on 1989-11-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 80 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
26 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-39 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
566 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
80 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
16 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGSP 152032
TORGSP
SCC047-059-152130-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
330 PM EST WED NOV 15 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  430 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
          ...NORTHEASTERN GREENWOOD...SOUTHERN LAURENS
 
TORNADO REPORTED BY GREENWOOD EMERGENCY PREPAREDEESS NORTH OF
GREENWOOD MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH
 
 
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

Special weather statement, Nov 15, 9:46 AM EST, 5 hours 44 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLOTTE NC
930 AM EST WED NOV 15 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN APPROACHING THE SOUTHERN PIEDMONT
   OF NORTH CAROLINA...

AT 935 AM RADAR SHOWED THE LEADING EDGE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
FROM EAST OF HICKORY IN CATAWBA COUNTY SOUTH THROUGH LINCOLN.AND
GASTON COUNTIES IN NORTH CAROLINA. THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ALSO
EXTEND ACROSS YORK AND CHESTER COUNTIES OF SOUTH CAROLINA. THE
HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED IN YORK AND CHESTER COUNTIES OF
SOUTH CAROLINA.

THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT ABOUT 40 MPH. THE
HEAVIEST SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MOVING INTO SOUTHERN
MECKLENBURG COUNTY AND UNION COUNTY BETWEEN 1000 AND 1100 AM.

THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS COULD BE ACCOMPANIED WITH SOME LOCALLY
HEAVY RAIN AS THEY MOVE THROUGH THE AREA.

THE NEXT STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED BY NOON UNLESS CONDITIONS WORSEN
OR A WARNING IS NEEDED.

JPW1
Special weather statement, Nov 15, 2:46 PM EST, 44 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
245 PM EST WED NOV 15 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN PIEDMONT...

AT 240 PM RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN ABBEVILLE GREENWOOD
AND LAURENS COUNTIES OF SOUTH CAROLINA. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING
TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 40 MPH.
PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS CAN EXPECT VERY HEAVY RAIN STRONG
GUSTY WIND AND FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING.
STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV FOR
FURTHER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS.
REM

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 15, 3:30 PM ESTTornado WarningGSPGreenwood23 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.