Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

April 4, 1989Cherokee County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Apr 4, 1989, 6:20 PM EDT for Cherokee County, South Carolina. It was in force for 55 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Apr 4, 1989, 6:20 PM EDT (22:20 UTC)
Expired: Apr 4, 1989, 7:15 PM EDT
In force: 55 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Cherokee County, SC

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 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 193 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: 1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 851 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 172 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 158 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 042221
TORGSP
SCC021-042315-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
620 PM EDT TUE APR 4 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
          ...CHEROKEE
 
A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND AT HWY 290 AND I-85 BY THE
SPARTANBURG POLICE. THIS WAS IN THE PAST 5 MINUTES.
 
 
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 OTR A
DITCH.
 
TORNADOES IN THE SOUTH ARE HARD TO SEE BECAUSE OF RAIN...LOW
CLOUDS...AND TREES. TAKE COVER NOW...DO NOT TRY TO WAIT ON THE
STORM AND DO NOT TRY TO OUTRUN IT.
WAJ

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, Apr 4, 5:17 PM EDT, 1 hour 3 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLOTTE NC
515 PM EST MON APR 04 1989

THE NATIONAL SEVERE STORMS FORECAST CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH
FOR MOST OF CENTRAL AND WESTERN SOUTH CAROLINA AND FOR PORTIONS OF
SOUTHWESTERN NORTH CAROLINA...INCLUDING CHARLOTTE AND VICINITY...FROM
5 PM EDT UNTIL 11 PM EDT.

THE TORNADO WATCH INCLUDES CHEROKEE...YORK...CHESTER...AND LANCASTER
COUNTIES IN SOUTH CAROLINA.

IN NORTH CAROLINA THE WATCH INCLUDES
CABARRUS...GASTON...CLEVELAND...LINCOLN...UNION...MECKLENBURG...AND
CATAWBA COUNTIES AS WELL AS OTHER COUNTIES IN THE MOUNTAINS AND
FOOTHILLS.

AT 445 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A LARGE AREA OF
SHOWERS AND SOME THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ALNG THE MOUNTAINS AND
FOOTHILLS OF NORTH CAROLINA.

HEAVIEST ACTIVITY EXTENDED FROM NORTHWESTERN SOUTH CAROLINA THROUGH
CENTRAL GEORGIA...WHERE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND SEVERAL TORNADOES
HAVE BEEN REPORTED.

THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS SITUATION WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF VERY
DAMAGING TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND DAMAGING
THUNDERSTORM WINDS.

THE NEXT STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED AROUND 645 PM EDT.

...CORRECTION FOR TIME ERRORS

JK

Local storm report, Apr 4, 5:23 PM EDT, 57 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
512 PM EDT TUE APR 4 1989

MARBLE HAIL AND 40 KNOTS IN CLEMSON 515 PM.
DIME HAIL ANDERSON AIRPORT 522 PM.
WAJ

Special weather statement, Apr 4, 5:53 PM EDT, 27 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
550 PM EDT TUE  APR 04 1989

...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR
MACON..SWAIN...RUTHERFORD...TRANSYLVANIA..BUNCOMBE..BURKE..MCDOWELL..
HAYWOOD..POLK..AND HENDERSON COUNTIES OF NORTH CAROLINA UNTIL 1100 PM
EDT TONIGHT...
AT 545 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS
MOVING ACROSS WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA AT AROUND 40 MILES AN HOUR.

SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE HEAVY DOWNPOURS..DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS.

THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF VERY
DAMAGING TORNADOES.

PONDING WATER ON ROADS AND POSSIBLE URBAN FLOODING ARE POSSIBLE IN
LOW LYING AND FLOOD PRONE AREAS.  MOTORISTS ARE URGED TO USE EXTREME
CAUTION SO AS TO AVOID HYDROPLANING.  ALSO, PERSONS IN LOW LYING AREAS
SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK HIGHER GROUND.
GRC/OS

Local storm report, Apr 4, 6:00 PM EDT, 20 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
600 PM EDT TUE APR 4 1989

GMU TOWER REPORTS 50 KNOTS NOW.
METERORGIST GREENVILLE ROPER MTOUNTAIN HAIL LARGER THAN DIME
WAJ

Local storm report, Apr 4, 6:07 PM EDT, 13 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
607 PM EDT TUE APR 4 1989

WSO GREER CURRENTLY GUST 62 KNOTS AND 3/4 HAIL.

WAJ

Local storm report, Apr 4, 6:20 PM EDT, 0 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
607 PM EDT TUE APR 4 1989

TORNADO RPTD AT SC 290 AND I85 BY SPARTANBURG CO. POLICE.

WAJ

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 4, 4:42 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GSP	Oconee	63 min
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

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.