Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

March 16, 1990Abbeville County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Mar 16, 1990, 8:16 PM EST for Abbeville County, South Carolina. It was in force for 59 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
Mar 16, 1990, 8:16 PM EST (01:16 UTC)
Expired
Mar 16, 1990, 9:15 PM EST
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Abbeville 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
Mar 16, 8:26 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 0Abbeville, 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 00:00Z, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 83 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 00:00Z on 1990-03-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 60 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 00:00Z on 1990-03-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 428 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
60 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-108 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
953 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
77 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
428 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
525 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGSP 170116
TORGSP
SCC001-170215-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
816 PM EST FRI MAR 16 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 915 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE STATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA
      ABBEVILLE

THE STORM IS ALSO THREATEING ABBEVILLE COUNTY.

PEOPLE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE{
ACTION TO PROTECT THEIR LIVES. GO TO YOUR BASEMENT OR THE CENTER OF
THE BUILDING AND 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.

 JONES

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, Mar 16, 2:17 PM EST, 5 hours 59 minutes before
SCZ001>004-162015-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
215 PM EST FRI MAR 16 1990

...THUNDERSTORMS WEAKEN OVER THE SOUTH CAROLINA UPSTATE...

AT 215 THIS AFTERNOON A BAND OF HEAVY RAIN SHOWERS EXTENDED
ACROSS GREENVILLE..PICKENS..ANDERSON..AND ABBEVILLE COUNTIES
OF THE PALMETTO STATE..WITH MOSTLY LIGHT RAIN FALLING OVER THE
REMAINING UPSTATE COUNTIES. THE SHOWERS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST
ABOUT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

THE RAINO WAS INDICATED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE EVENING..BECOMING
HEAVY AT TIMES..OVER NORTHWESTERN SOUTH CAROLINA.
MUSGROVE
Special weather statement, Mar 16, 3:11 PM EST, 5 hours 5 minutes before
SCZ001>004-162115-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREER SC
310 PM EST FRI MAR 16 1990

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THE SOUTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS
   TONIGHT AND SATURDAY...

AT 315 THIS AFTERNOON WEATHER RADAR NOTED A ONE TO TWO HOUR BREAK
IN THE RAIN ACROSS NORTHEASTERN GEORGIA AND THROUGH OCONEE COUNTY
OF SOUTH CAROLINA. ELSEWHERE...LIGHT TO MODERATE RAIN WAS FALLING
IN THE UPSTATE AREAS OF THE PALMETTO STATE...WITH& A FEW HEAVY RAIN
SHOWERS IN GREENVILLE AND SPARTANBURG COUNTIES.

THE RAIN WAS MOVING NORTHEAST...WITH LITTLE CHANGE.
MUSGROVE
Special weather statement, Mar 16, 7:19 PM EST, 57 minutes before
SCZ001>004-170200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
720 PM EST FRI MAR 16 1990

...SOME SEVERE WEATHER CONTINUES TO BE REPORTED FROM THE LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS WHICH IS MOVING TOWARD THE UPSTATE...
AT 715 PM EST THE LINE OF STORMS STRETCHED FROM NORTH OF ATHENS
TO NEAR MACON AND CONTINUED MOVING EAST ABOUT 30 MPH.  THE NORTHERN
END OF THE LINE COULD AFFECT OCONEE COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA AROUND
800 PM...AND THE MOST INTENSE PART OF THE LINE COULD AFFECT THE
ANDERSON/ABBEVILLE COUNTIES AREA BETWEEN 800 PM AND 900 PM.

IT IS NOT CLEAR WHETHER THIS LINE OF STORMS WILL MAINTAIN SEVERITY.
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL CAREFULLY MONITOR THE PROGESS
3OF THIS WEATHER SYSTEM.

IN ADDITION...FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS COULD BECOME NECESSARY IN PARTS OF
THE UPSTATE DURING THE EVENING.
JONES

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 16, 8:12 PM ESTTornado WarningGSPAnderson63 min
Mar 16, 8:57 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPGreenwood33 min
Mar 16, 8:57 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPLaurens63 min
Mar 17, 4:47 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningGSPGreenville118 min
Mar 17, 6:07 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningGSPGreenville, Pickens3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Carolina, 1990Every tornado warning in 1990Tornadoes in 1990

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.