Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 15, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

May 29, 1996Union County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at May 29, 1996, 6:12 PM EDT for Union County, North Carolina. It was in force for 33 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 29, 1996, 6:12 PM EDT (22:12 UTC)
Expired: May 29, 1996, 6:45 PM EDT
In force: 33 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Union County, NC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 128 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:11 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 134 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: 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 292212
TORGSP
NCC179-292245-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
612 PM EDT WED MAY 29 1996
 
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 CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...UNION COUNTY
 
AT 611 PM HAM RADIO SPOTTERS HAVE INDICATED THAT A TORNADO WAS TOUCHING
DOWN 2 MILES WEST OF MONROE. THE TORNADO IS MOVING SOUTHEAST AROUND 30
MPH AND WILL CROSS HIGHWAYS 200 AND 207 JUST SOUTH OF MONROE BY 625 PM
AND WILL CROSS OVER HIGHWAY 601 IN THE FAR SOUTHEASTERN PORTIONS OF
UNION COUNTY BY 645 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.
 
MOYfER
 
&

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.

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at May 29, 2:07 PM EDT, 4 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 29, 2:07 PM EDT, 4 hours 5 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
207 PM EDT WED MAY 29 1996

88-D QUIET ATTM WITH REGIONAL RADAR SHOWING CONVECTION BEGINNING TO
FIRE ACROSS NRN AL. ADAP SHOWS ATMOS OVER CWA UNSTABLE WITH NO CAP.
FRONT AND JET MAXS PROGGED TO CROSS CWA TONIGHT. MOISTURE CONVERGENCE
CONTINUES ACROSS THE CWA SO THINGS MAY NOT GET AS ACTIVE AS PREVIOUSLY
THOUGHT BUT HIGH CHC POPS ARE WARRANTED FOR WESTERN SECTIONS AND CHC
POPS ELSW.

MODELS SIMILAR PUSHING FRONT THROUGH TONIGHT AND COOL DRY HIGH PRESSURE
BUILDING IN THROUGH REST OF PERIOD. LOW CLOUDS AND MAYBE SOME L- SHOULD
HANG AROUND EARLY THURSDAY MORNING OTHW MOSTLY SUNNY AND COOLER. TEMPS
COULD BE HELD UP A LITTLE TONIGHT WITH CLOUDS AND HIHGER WINDS
ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRONT. FOR THE REST OF THE PERIOD THINK FAN TOO
COOL.

AVL 55/69/47/72 5/0/0/0
CLT 61/75/54/78 4/0/0/0
GSP 61/76/53/79 4/0/0/0
^
RWH

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 29, 4:02 PM EDT, 2 hours 10 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
402 PM EDT WED MAY 29 1996

TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....
359 PM     RUTHERFORDTON             NC   0.88 INCH HAIL
05/27/96   RUTHERFORD                     DIME TO NICKLE HAIL
                                          REPORTED BY RUTHERFORD
                                          911.

DHR

Local storm report, May 29, 4:48 PM EDT, 1 hour 24 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
448 PM EDT WED MAY 29 1996

TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.*....
448 PM     BOILING SPRINGS           SC   0.75 INCH HAIL
05/29/96   SPARTANBURG                    DIME REPORTED BY HAMM
                                          SPOTTER.

DHR

Local storm report, May 29, 4:49 PM EDT, 1 hour 23 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
402 PM EDT WED MAY 29 1996
   CORRECTION FOR DATE
TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....
359 PM     RUTHERFORDTON             NC   0.88 INCH HAIL
05/29/96   RUTHERFORD                     DIME TO NICKLE HAIL
                                          REPORTED BY RUTHERFORD
                    0                      911.
DHR

Local storm report, May 29, 5:57 PM EDT, 15 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
557 PM EDT WED MAY 29 1996

TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....
545 PM     ADAMSBURG                 SC   1.00 INCH HAIL
           UNION                          REPORTED BY EPD

550 PM     ATWELL                    NC   TREES AND POWERS LINES
           ROWAN                          DOWN FROM TORNADO R,EPORTED
                                          BY FIRE CHIEF.
DHR

Local storm report, May 29, 6:03 PM EDT, 9 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
602 PM EDT WED MAY 29 1996

TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.H....
600 PM     ATWELL                    NC   1.75 INCH HAIL
           ROWAN                          TREES DOWN...ROOF OFF HOUSE
                                          BY TORNADO. HAMM SPOTTER.

DHR

Local storm report, May 29, 6:08 PM EDT, 4 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
607 PM EDT WED MAY 29 1996

TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....
549 PM     10 E MOORESVILLE          NC   TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN
           ROWAN                          SOUTHWEST ROWAN COUNTY.
                                          REPORTED BY ROWAN COUNTY
                                         V 911.

DHR

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 29, 3:50 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Rutherford	40 min
May 29, 4:56 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GSP	Gaston	49 min
May 29, 5:17 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GSP	Mecklenburg	43 min
May 29, 5:26 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GSP	Union	49 min
May 29, 5:49 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Cabarrus, Rowan	41 min
May 29, 5:55 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GSP	Rowan	35 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 1996 Every tornado warning in 1996 Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.