Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

April 22, 1997Abbeville County, South Carolina; Elbert County, Georgia

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Apr 22, 1997, 7:31 PM EDT for Abbeville County, South Carolina; Elbert County, Georgia. It was in force for 44 min. 1 report 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: Apr 22, 1997, 7:31 PM EDT (23:31 UTC)
Expired: Apr 22, 1997, 8:15 PM EDT
In force: 44 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

Counties Elbert County, GA, Abbeville County, SC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 89 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:25 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
Apr 22, 8:02 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52	Elberton, GA

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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Apr 22, 6:45 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 193 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: 232 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -122 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 649 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 154 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 172 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGSP 222332 RRA
TORGSP
GAC105-SCC001-230015-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
731 PM EDT TUE APR 22 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  815 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA
 
   ...EASTERN ELBERT COUNTY
 
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...ABBEVILLE COUNTY
 
AT 730 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POSSIBLY
PRODUCING A TORNADO OVER THE CITY OF ELBERTON. THE STORM IS MOVING EAST
AT 30 MPH AND WILL CROSS LAKE RUSSELL BETWEEN LOWNDESVILLE AND CALHOUN
FALLS BY 745 PM. THE CITY OF ABBEVILLE MAY BE AFFECTED BY 8 PM.
 
THIS EXTENDS THE TORNADO WARNING FOR EASTERN ELBERT COUNTY AND REPLACES
THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR ABBEVILLE COUNTY.
 
PEOPLE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE
ACTION TO PROTECT THEIR LIVES. GO TO YOUR BASEMENT...FTHE 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 21, 11:15 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Oconee	45 min
Apr 22, 12:08 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Oconee	37 min
Apr 22, 12:17 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Pickens	43 min
Apr 22, 1:12 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Laurens	63 min
Apr 22, 3:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Abbeville	60 min
Apr 22, 4:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Greenwood	64 min
Apr 22, 4:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Laurens	30 min
Apr 22, 4:42 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Union	48 min
Apr 22, 5:13 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Chester	32 min
Apr 22, 7:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Abbeville, Anderson	45 min
Apr 22, 7:51 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Laurens	39 min
Apr 22, 3:15 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Elbert	45 min
Apr 22, 6:50 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GSP	Elbert	40 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Carolina, 1997 Tornado Warnings in Georgia, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes in 1997

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.