Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 39, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

August 16, 1994Cherokee County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Aug 16, 1994, 5:47 PM EDT for Cherokee County, South Carolina. It was in force for 58 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 16, 1994, 5:47 PM EDT (21:47 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 1994, 6:45 PM EDT
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Cherokee County, SC

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1994-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 37 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1994-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 58 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
37 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-30 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
625 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
58 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
41 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 162147
TORGSP
SCC021-162245-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
547 PM EDT TUE AUG 16 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...CHEROKEE COUNTY
 
LAW ENFORCEMENT PERSONNEL WERE FOLLOWING A FUNNEL CLOUD MOVING UP AND
DOWN BUT NOT ON THE GROUND NEAR GAFFNEY. TORNADO DAMAGE OCCURRED NEAR
COWPENS ABOUT 525 PM EDT.
 
TORNADOES IN TROPICAL WEATHER SYSTEMS USUALLY DEVELOP QUICKLY...
MOVE RAPIDLY...AND CAN OCCUR REPEATEDLY FROM THE SAME BAND OF
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS. IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNED AREAl AND ARE CLOSE
TO A THUNDERSTORM...TAKE COVER UNTIL IT PASSES.
 
W. JONES/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, Aug 16, 4:11 PM EDT, 1 hour 36 minutes before
NCZ056-068>074-082>084-DDHHMM-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLOTTE NC
407 PM EDT TUE AUG 16 1994

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM FOR MUCH OF THE
SOUTHERN PIEDMONT AND SECTIONS OF THE NORTHERN FOOTHILLS OF NORTH
CAROLINA. THE WATCH INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN NORTH
CAROLINA..CATAWBA...CLEVELAND...LINCOLN...GASTON...MECKLENBURG...
CABARRUS...UNION...ANSON...STANLY...MONTGOMERY...RICHMOND...IREDELL
AND ROWAN ALSO YORK COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA. A TORNADO WATCH IS IN
EFFECT UNTIL 800 PM EDT FOR CHEROKEE...CHESTER AND LANCASTER COUNTIES
OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

AT 405 PM EDT WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LARGE AREA OF RAIN WITH IMBEDDED
THUNDERSTORMS JUST SOUTH OF CHARLOTTE NORTH CAROLINA. THE RAIN AND
THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED SOUTH INTO CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA AND WEST INTO
THE MOUNTAIN AND FOOTHILLS OF BOTH NORTH AND SOUTH CAROLINA.

REPORTS FROM THE WEATHER OFFICE IN COLUMBIA SOUTH CAROLINA REPORTED
SEVERAL TORNADOES IN THE CENTRAL SECTIONS OF SOUTH CAROLINA THIS
AFTERNOON.

EVERYONE IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS WILL EXPERIENCE HEAVY RAIN ...
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLE HAIL.

CONTINUE TO MONITOR YOUR RADIO ... TELEVISION OR YOUR NOAA WEATHER
RADIO FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS.

JPW
Local storm report, Aug 16, 4:22 PM EDT, 1 hour 25 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
422 PM EDT TUE AUG 16 1994

TIME        EVENT

415 PM EDT  MONARCH AREA UNION COUNTY...APPARENT TORNADO DAMAGE.
            TREES ACROSS ROADS AND OTHER...FROM AMATEUR RADIO.

WAJ
Local storm report, Aug 16, 4:23 PM EDT, 1 hour 24 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
422 PM EDT TUE AUG 16 1994

TIME        EVENT

415 PM EDT  MONARCH AREA UNION COUNTY...APPARENT TORNADO DAMAGE.
            TREES ACROSS ROADS AND OTHER...FROM AMATEUR RADIO.

WAJ
Local storm report, Aug 16, 5:29 PM EDT, 18 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
530 PM EDT TUE AUG 16 1994

TIME        EVENT

445 PM EDT  TORNADO NEAR PAULINE IN SPARTANBURG. DAMAGE TO HOME.
            REPORTED BY DEVPUTY SHERIFF.

515 PM EDT  POSSIBLE TORNADO WEST OF COWPENS NEAR PLEASANT VALLEY RD.
            SPARTANBURG EOC REPORT.

CAL
Local storm report, Aug 16, 5:40 PM EDT, 7 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
540 PM EDT TUE AUG 16 1994

TIME        EVENT

525 PM EDT  DAMAGE TO FRAME HOME AND MOBILE HOME OFF FOUNDATION.
            POWER LINES DOWN. ALL ON OLD PACOLET RD .SPARTANBURG EOC
            REPORT.

CAL

 RD.
            SPARTANBURG EOC REPORT.

CAL
Local storm report, Aug 16, 5:40 PM EDT, 7 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
540 PM EDT TUE AUG 16 1994

TIME        EVENT

525 PM EDT  DAMAGE TO FRAME HOME AND MOBILE HOME OFF FOUNDATION.
            POWER LINES DOWN. ALL ON OLD PACOLET RD .SPARTANBURG EOC
            REPORT.

CAL

 RD.
            SPARTANBURG EOC REPORT.

CAL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 16, 3:34 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPUnion56 min
Aug 16, 3:46 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPAnderson59 min
Aug 16, 4:26 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPCherokee64 min
Aug 16, 4:31 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPUnion44 min
Aug 16, 4:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPSpartanburg47 min
Aug 16, 5:53 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPSpartanburg67 min
Aug 16, 7:04 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPCherokee, Union56 min
Aug 16, 7:46 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPSpartanburg44 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Carolina, 1994Every tornado warning in 1994Tornadoes in 1994

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.