Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

April 4, 1989Gaston County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Apr 4, 1989, 7:08 PM EDT for Gaston County, North Carolina. It was in force for 37 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Apr 4, 1989, 7:08 PM EDT (23:08 UTC)
Expired: Apr 4, 1989, 7:45 PM EDT
In force: 37 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Gaston 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 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 145 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 KCLT 042309
TORCLT
NCC071-042345-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLOTTE NC
708 PM EDT TUE APR 4 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLOTTE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN WEST NORTH CAROLINA
          ...GASTON
 
AT 705 PM EDT THE WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ALONG THE
GASTON COUNTY AND YORK COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTYLINE MOVING
NORTHEAST INTO GASTON COUNTY.
 
THIS THUNDERSTORM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE A TORNADO.
 
 
IF YOU LIVE IN A HOME OR APARTMENT...SEEK SHELTER IN THE
INNERMOST PORTION OF THE BUILDING ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  GET TO
A BASEMENT IF ONE pIS AVAILABLE.  AVOID WINDOWS AND PROTECT YOUR
BODY FROM FLYING DEBRIS WITH CUSHIONS...BLANKETS...OR PILLOWS.

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, Apr 4, 5:23 PM EDT, 1 hour 45 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, 1 hour 15 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, 1 hour 8 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, 1 hour 1 minute 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, 48 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

Local storm report, Apr 4, 7:06 PM EDT, 2 minutes before

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

WIND DAMAGE AND SOME TORNADOES HAVE OCCURRED OVER PRACTICALLY
ALL OF UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA.  DAMAGE IS QUITE EXTENSIVE IN SEVERAL
COUNTIES.  SPARTANBURG COUNTY REPORTED THAT SOME PEOPLE ARE TRAPPED
IN MOBILE HOME WRECKAGE...AND APPARENTLY SOME SHERIFFS VEHICLES WERE
CAUGHT IN A TORNADO.  A TELEPHONE SURVEY OF COUNTIES WILL BEGIN
TONIGHT...AND AN ONSITE SURVEY WILL BE CONDUCToED TOMORROW.

WE WILL TRANSMIT SPECIFIC TIMES AND LOCATIONS WITH TYPE OF DAMAGE AS
SOON AS POSSIBLE.

WAJ

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 4, 6:41 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GSP	Polk, Rutherford	34 min
Apr 4, 6:54 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GSP	Cleveland	51 min
Apr 4, 7:27 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Mecklenburg	48 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North 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.