Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1993

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

March 23, 1993Oconee County, Pickens County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Mar 23, 1993, 5:57 PM EST for Oconee County, Pickens County, South Carolina. It was in force for 33 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 23, 1993, 5:57 PM EST (22:57 UTC)
Expired
Mar 23, 1993, 6:30 PM EST
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Oconee County, SC, Pickens County, SC

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 23, 5:58 PM ESTTornado F0Seneca, 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, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 104 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 1993-03-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 39 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 1993-03-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 220 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
39 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-36 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
556 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
220 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
315 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 232259 COR
TORGSP
SCC073-077-232330-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
557 PM EST TUE MAR 23 1993

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN  SOUTH CAROLINA

   ...SOUTHEASTERN OCONEE COUNTY...WESTERN PICKENS COUNTY

A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS REPORTED NEAR HIGHWAY 188 SOUTH COVE AREA OF
OCONEE COUNTY. STORM HEADED TOWARD CLEMSON...SOME DAMAGE APPARENTLY
OCCRRED.


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/CAL/GSP

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 23, 3:33 PM EST, 2 hours 24 minutes before
NCZ010-011-012-232130-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
333 PM EST TUE MAR 23 1993

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA...

AT 330 PM EST...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS
EXTENDING THROUGH NORTHERN GEORGIA AND INTO THE SOUTHWESTERN MOUNTAINS
OF NORTH CAROLINA. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER NORTHERN
GEORGIA BUT WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. WITH THIS MOVEMENT
THE STRONGEST STORMS WILL MOVE INTO MACON AND JACKSON COUNTIES BY 4 PM.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN AND FREQUENT DEADLY
LIGHTNING. STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND SOME HAIL ARE ALSO POSSIBLE WITH THE
STRONGEST STORMS.

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA...MOVE INTO A STRONG
BUILDING AND REMAIN THERE UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR LOCAL RADIO AND TELEVISION FOR LATER
INFORMATION.

EJC
Special weather statement, Mar 23, 4:22 PM EST, 1 hour 35 minutes before
SCZ001-002-004-232300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
422 PM EST TUE MAR 23 1993

...THUNDERSTORMS HEADED TOWARD UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...

A BAND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDS FROM SOUTHWESTERN
NORTH CAROLINA TO JUST NORTH OF ATLANTA GEORGIA AT 410 THIS AFTERNOON
AND IS MOVING EASTWARD AROUND 25 MPH. THESE STORMS WILL BE
CROSSING INTO OCONEE COUNTY AROUND 500 PM AND WILL PRODUCE
LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLY SOME HAIL.

AREAS OF THE UPSTATE HAVE RECEIVED ANYWHERE FROM 3/4 TO ALMOST
2 INCHES OF RAIN IN THE LAST 18 HOURS. WITH ADDITIONAL HEAVY
RAINS EXPECTED WITH THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...SOME FLOODING
OF STREETS AND AREAS OF POOBR DRAINAGE IS POSSIBLE THIS EVENING.

LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AS THESE STORMS MOVE THROUGH THE AREA.
LEFKOF/GSP

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 23, 6:41 PM ESTTornado WarningGSPAnderson34 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Carolina, 1993Every tornado warning in 1993Tornadoes in 1993

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.