Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

May 1, 1995Greenwood County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at May 1, 1995, 10:47 PM EDT for Greenwood County, South Carolina. It was in force for 43 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 1, 1995, 10:47 PM EDT (02:47 UTC)
Expired: May 1, 1995, 11:30 PM EDT
In force: 43 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Greenwood County, SC

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 236 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: 725 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1502 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 67 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 135 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 336 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.5
Supercell composite: 8.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGSP 020248
TORGSP
SCC047-020330-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
1047 PM EDT MON MAY 1 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1130 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...NORTHERN AND CENTRAL GREENWOOD COUNTY
 
SPOTTERS HAVE REPORTED DAMAGE WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN THE IVA-STARR
AREA AT 1025 PM EDT. THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 60 MPH ACROSS
NORTHERN ABBEVILLE COUNTY AND WILL BE INTO THE NORTHERN HALF OF
GREENWOOD COUNTY BY 1100 PM.
 
 
PEOPLE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE
ACTION TO PROTECT THEIR LIVES. GO TO YOUR 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.

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, May 1, 8:51 PM EDT, 1 hour 56 minutes before

NCZ056-068>072-082-020200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLOTTE NC
0850 PM EDT MON MAY 01 1995

...A TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR CHEROKEE COUNTY
SOUTH CAROLINA UNTIL 11 PM EDT.

...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SOME WITH HEAVY RAIN HAS MOVED INTO
THE SOUTHERN PIEDMONT AND NORTHERN FOOTHILLS OF NORTH CAROLINA....

AT 845 PM EDT WEATHER RADAR SHOWED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
SOME WITH HEAVY RAIN EXTENDING FROM AROUND HICKORY IN CATAWBA
COUNTY SOUTH ACROSS WESTERN LINCOLN COUNTY TO JUST NORTHEAST
OF SHELBY IN CLEVELAND COUNTY.

THESE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE PART OF A LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM AROUND GREENSBORO SOUTH TO
MONROE IN UNION COUNTY AND WEST INTO THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS.
ARE EXPECTED TO INTENSIFIED OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS.

EVERYONE IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS CAN EXPECT THUNDERSTORMS WITH
HEAVY RAINFALL ... GUSTY WINDS ... DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLE
HAIL.

CONTINUE TO MONITOR YOUR LOCAL RADIO...TELEVISION OR WEATHER RADIO
FOR ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

JPW

Local storm report, May 1, 9:01 PM EDT, 1 hour 46 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
900 PM EDT MON MAY 1 1995

DELAYED REPORT FROM 911...

TIME EST    ....CITY LOCATION       STATE  ....EVENT/REMARKS....
            ....COUNTY LOCATION

  730 PM   SIX MILE                  SC   POSSIBLE SMALL TORNADO
05/01/95   COUNTY                         UPROOTED TREES AND CAUSED
                                          MINOR PROPERTY DAMAGE

W. JONES/GSP
\

Local storm report, May 1, 9:36 PM EDT, 1 hour 11 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
934 PM EDT MON MAY 1 1995

DELAYED REPORT FROM 911...

TIME EST    ....CITY LOCATION       STATE  ....EVENT/REMARKS....
            ....COUNTY LOCATION

  925 PM   GAFFNEY TO BLACKSBURG     SC   ...TORNADO...
05/01/95   CHEROKEE                       BUILDINGS DOWN LARGE AREA
                                          WITHOUT POWER NOT SURE OF
                                          EXTENT OF DAMAGE.

W. JONES/GSP

Local storm report, May 1, 9:44 PM EDT, 1 hour 3 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
940 PM EDT MON MAY 1 1995

DELAYED REPORT FROM 911...

TIME EDT    ....CITY LOCATION       STATE  ....EVENT/REMARKS....
            ....COUNTY LOCATION

  939 PM   EAST OF GAFFNEY           SC   ...TORNADO...
05/01/95   CHEROKEE                       DEPUTY HAS VISUAL ON TORNADO
                                          ON GROUND MOVING TOWARD
                                          BLACKSBURG AT THIS TIME
                                          NEAR HIGHWAY 329...POSSIBLE
                                          SECOND TORNADO THIS STORM

W. JONES/GSP

Special weather statement, May 1, 10:01 PM EDT, 46 minutes before

NCZ033-053-055-034-060-061-058-052-065-059-063-062-048-054-050-
066-067-051-064-049-020400-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ASHEVILLE NC
957 PM EDT MON MAY 1 1995

THE TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN
NORTH CAROLINA:

CHEROKEE...GRAHAM...CLAY...MACON...JACKSON...TRANSYLVANIA...HENDERSON...
POLK...

AT 0955 PM EDT WEATHER RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY OVER
THE PIEDMONT AND SANDHILLS OF NORTH CAROLINA.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.

LIGHT RAIN OVER MOST OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA WILL BE ENDING AROUND
MIDNIGHT.

SM

Local storm report, May 1, 10:41 PM EDT, 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
1040 PM EDT MON MAY 1 1995

TIME EDT    ....CITY LOCATION       STATE  ....EVENT/REMARKS....
            ....COUNTY LOCATION

 1025 PM   NEAR STARR                SC   ...DAMAGE...
05/01/95   ANDERSON                       BARN DOWN AND TREES DOWN
                                          RAINY ROAD NEAR TOWN OF
                                          STARR.

W. JONES/GSP

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 1, 9:08 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GSP	Cherokee	43 min
May 1, 9:45 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GSP	Anderson	45 min
May 1, 10:28 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GSP	Abbeville, Laurens	47 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Carolina, 1995 Every tornado warning in 1995 Tornadoes in 1995

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.