Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

May 29, 1996Rowan County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at May 29, 1996, 5:55 PM EDT for Rowan County, North Carolina. It was in force for 35 min. 2 reports 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
May 29, 1996, 5:55 PM EDT (21:55 UTC)
Expired
May 29, 1996, 6:30 PM EDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Rowan County, NC

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 29, 6:05 PM EDTTornado F1Salisbury, NC
May 29, 6:06 PM EDTHail 1.75Salisbury, NC

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.

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 75 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 1996-05-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1996-05-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 87 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
974 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
87 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
186 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 292155
TORGSP
NCC159-292230-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
555 PM EDT WED MAY 29 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...ROWAN COUNTY
 
AT 555 PM A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND NEAR ATWELL MOVING EAST
AROUND 30 MPH. THE STORM WILL MOVE NEAR LANDIS AND CHINA GROVE BY 615 PM
AND ROCKWELL BY 630 PM.
 
THIS REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR ROWAN COUNTY.
 
 
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.
 
MOYER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 29, 3:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPRutherford40 min
May 29, 4:56 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPGaston49 min
May 29, 5:17 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPMecklenburg43 min
May 29, 5:26 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPUnion49 min
May 29, 5:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCabarrus, Rowan41 min
May 29, 6:12 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPUnion33 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes in 1996

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.