Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1993

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

March 31, 1993Clay County, Macon County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Mar 31, 1993, 5:16 PM EST for Clay County, Macon County, North Carolina. It was in force for 44 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Mar 31, 1993, 5:16 PM EST (22:16 UTC)
Expired: Mar 31, 1993, 6:00 PM EST
In force: 44 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

Counties Clay County, NC, Macon County, NC

The nearest sounding before it

Athens Municipal, GA (KAHN), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 131 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: 33 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 570 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 99 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 33 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 KAVL 312216
TORAVL
NCC043-113-312300-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
516 PM EST WED MAR 31 1993
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ASHEVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN WEST NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...CLAY COUNTY...NORTHWESTERN MACON COUNTY
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN CHEROKEE COUNTY ARE MOVING INTO MACON AND CLAY
COUNTIES. GOLF-BALL SIZE HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED IN CHEROKEE COUNTY WITH
THESE THUNDERSTORMS. THERE HAS BEEN A REPORT OF A TORNADO ON THE GROUND
IN FANNIN COUNTY IN EXTREME NORTHERN GEORGIA...THIS TORNADO MOVED INTO
CHEROKEE COUNTY BUT NO REPORTS OF DAMAGE HAVE BEEN RECEIVED AT THIS
TIME.
 
PEOPLE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE
ACTION TO PROTECT THEIR LIVES. GO TO A 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.
 
R.JONES/AVL
 
&

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, Mar 31, 2:37 PM EST, 2 hours 39 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
233 PM EST WED MAR 31 1993

1050 AM   EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS DIRECTOR OF GREENWOOD COUNTY REPORTED
          WIND DAMAGE WITH A MOBILE HOME MOVED...A SHED DESTROYED...
          POWER LINES AND A COUPLE OF TREES DOWN. DAMAGE BETWEEN 1050-
          1130 AM EST.

DHR

Special weather statement, Mar 31, 4:11 PM EST, 1 hour 5 minutes before

SCZ001-002-004-312300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
405 PM EST WED MAR 31 1993

...TORNADO WATCH INCLUDES MOST OF UPSTATE UNTIL 900 PM EST...
AT 350 PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHERN
SECTIONS OF GEORGIA.  THESE STORMS WERE GAINING STRENGTH STEADILY AND
SEEMED TO BE BECOMING BETTER ORGANIZED.  AT THE CURRENT PACE OF
DEVELOPMENT AND MOVEMENT...STRONG OR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BEGIN TO
AFFECT WESTERN UPSTATE COUNTIES AROUND 600 PM OR A LITTLE EARLIER.

THIS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION...ANY TORNADOES WHICH DEVELOP
FROM SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT COULD BE VERY DAMAGING.  UPSTATE
SPOTTER GROUPS SHOULD PREPARE TO ACTIVATE ON SHORT NOTICE.

PEOPLE SHOULD MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR LISTEN TO LOCAL TV OR
RADIO FOR LATEST INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.  THERE IS SOME TIME
TO BRUSH UP ON TORNADO SAFETY RULES...BE PREPARED TO TAKE COVER IF A
WARNING IS ISSUED FOR YOUR COUNTY OR IF TORNADOES OR DAMAGING WINDS ARE
OBSERVED.

JONES

Local storm report, Mar 31, 5:11 PM EST, 5 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NORTH CAROLINA
 510 PM EST WED MAR 31      1993

 DATE/TIME    EVENT
445 PM EST    CHEROKEE COUNTY EOC REPORTS HAIL UP TO GOLF-BALL
              SIZE IN SOUTHERN CHEROKEE COUNTY. HAIL MARBLE TO
              NICKLE SIZE COVERED THE GROUND WEST OF MURPHY TO A
              REPORTED DEPTH OF 1 TO 2 INCHES.

RCJ

Special weather statement, Mar 31, 5:13 PM EST, 3 minutes before

NCZ007-008-014-312300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLOTTE NC
515 PM EST WED MAR 31 1993

...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR MECKLENBURG... CLEVELAND... CATAWBA...
LINCOLN... GASTON... IREDELL... ROWAN... CABBARRUS... STANLY...
ANSON... UNION... RICHMOND... AND MONTGOMERY COUNTIES OF NORTH
CAROLINA UNTIL MIDNIGHT THIS EVENING...

...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR CHEROKEE...YORK... AND LANCASTER
COUNTIES IN SOUTH CAROLINA UNTIL MIDNIGHT THIS EVENING...

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FOR CATAWBA COUNTY THIS EVENING...

AT 510 PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED SCATTERED LIGHT SHOWERS OVER THE
FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT REGIONS OF NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA.  HEAVIER
THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING INTO THE SOUTHWESTERN MOUNTAINS OF NORTH
CAROLINA AND ALSO CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA.  MOVEMENT OF THE
PRECIPITATION WAS TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

THE ATMOSPHERE IS EXTREMELY UNSTABLE AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE
TO DEVELOP THROUGHOUT THE EVENING OVER WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND
NORTHERN SOUTH CAROLINA.

TORNADOES... LARGE HAIL... DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND DAMAGING
THUNDERSTORM WINDS ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

YOU SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER AND BE READY TO
TAKE COVER.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO... OR LOCAL TELEVISION AND RADIO FOR
UPDATES OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

THE NEXT STATEMENT WILL BE ISSUED BY 600 PM.

GK

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 31, 4:23 PM EST	Flash Flood Warning	GSP	Cherokee	67 min
Mar 31, 4:23 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Cherokee	67 min
Mar 31, 4:56 PM EST	Tornado Warning	GSP	Cherokee	34 min
Mar 31, 5:29 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Cherokee, Graham	46 min
Mar 31, 5:57 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Jackson, Macon	63 min
Mar 31, 6:13 PM EST	Tornado Warning	GSP	Transylvania	32 min
Mar 31, 6:27 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Henderson, Polk	63 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 1993 Every tornado warning in 1993 Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.