Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 21, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Sep 16, 1996, 5:23 PM EDT for Laurens County, Spartanburg County, South Carolina. It was in force for 37 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
- Sep 16, 1996, 5:23 PM EDT (21:23 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 16, 1996, 6:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 37 min
- Issued by
- NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Laurens County, SC, Spartanburg County, SC
The radar
The Greer radar (KGSP), 28 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:18 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 16, 5:35 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Hickory Tavern, SC | |
| Sep 16, 5:50 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Laurens, SC |
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
Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 273 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 337 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -26 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 789 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 38 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 100 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 106 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KGSP 162124 TORGSP SCC059-083-162200- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC 523 PM EDT MON SEP 16 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 600 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN SOUTH CAROLINA ...LAURENS COUNTY...SOUTHERN SPARTANBURG COUNTY A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE FROM SOUTHERN GREENVILLE COUNTY INTO NORTHERN LAURENS COUNTY EAST OF FOUNTAIN INN AROUND 530 PM. THIS RAPIDLY MOVING STORM WILL CONTINUE MOVING EAST TO NEAR SWITZER AND WOODRUFF SHORTLY THEREAFTER. IN ADDTION TO THE TORNADO THREAT...DAMAGING WINDS ARE LIKELY IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM. TORNADOES IN THE SOUTH ARE HARD TO SEE BECAUSE OF RAIN...LOW CLOUDS...AND TREES. TAKE COVER NOW...DO NOT TRY TO WAIT ON THE STORM AND DO NOT TRY TO OUTRUN IT.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 16, 4:31 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Anderson, Oconee | 44 min |
| Sep 16, 5:03 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Greenville | 42 min |
| Sep 16, 5:57 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Greenwood, Laurens | 48 min |
| Sep 16, 6:03 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Union | 42 min |
| Sep 16, 7:02 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Greenwood | 43 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in South 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.