Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 48, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

August 31, 1994Caldwell County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Aug 31, 1994, 5:26 PM EDT for Caldwell County, North Carolina. It was in force for 34 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 31, 1994, 5:26 PM EDT (21:26 UTC)
Expired
Aug 31, 1994, 6:00 PM EDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Caldwell County, NC

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 149 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 1994-08-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 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 1994-08-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 58 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
611 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
58 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
73 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 312128
TORAVL
NCC027-312200-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
526 PM EDT WED AUG 31 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN ASHEVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...EASTERN CALDWELL COUNTY
 
AT 522PM A TORNADO WAS REPORTED IN THE ZACKS FORK SECTION OF CALDWELL
COUNTY EAST OF LENOIR. IT WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL
WAS ALSO REPORTED.
 
 
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. GETB
OUT OF MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES. GET INTO A STURDY BUILDING OR A
DITCH.
 
HM
  &

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 31, 5:10 PM EDT, 16 minutes before
NCZ034-066-067-312215-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
510 PM EDT WED AUG 31 1994

AT 505 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN CALDWELL
COUNTY EAST OF LENOIR. ANOTHER WAS IN RUTHERFORD COUNTY EAST OF
RUTHERFORDTON. THEY WERE MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

THE STRONG STORMS MAY CONTAIN STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN AS WELL AS
DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING.

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY UNTIL THE
STORM HAS PASSED.

HM
Special weather statement, Aug 31, 5:12 PM EDT, 14 minutes before
NCZ034-066-067-312215-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
510 PM EDT WED AUG 31 1994

AT 505 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN CALDWELL
COUNTY EAST OF LENOIR. ANOTHER WAS IN RUTHERFORD COUNTY EAST OF
RUTHERFORDTON. THEY WERE MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

THE STRONG STORMS MAY CONTAIN STRONG WINDS AND HEAVY RAIN AS WELL AS
DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING.

IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY UNTIL THE
STORM HAS PASSED.

HM

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North 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.