Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

January 8, 1998Madison County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 8, 1998, 7:52 PM EST for Madison County, North Carolina. It was in force for 23 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: Jan 8, 1998, 7:52 PM EST (00:52 UTC)
Expired: Jan 8, 1998, 8:15 PM EST
In force: 23 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Madison County, NC

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:53 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
Jan 8, 8:01 PM EST	Hail 0.75	Mars Hill, 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 00:00Z, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 254 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: 381 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 581 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 72 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 125 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 135 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.2
Supercell composite: 1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGSP 090052 RRA
SVRGSP
NCC115-090115-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
752 PM EST THU JAN 8 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  815 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN WEST NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...SOUTHERN MADISON COUNTY
 
RADAR AT 752 PM EST DETECTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CONTAINING LARGE HAIL
ALONG THE BUNCOMBE/MADISON COUNTY BORDER NEAR JUPITER. THIS STORM WAS
MOVING NORTH AT 35 MPH AND WILL MOVE TO NEAR MARSHALL AND MARS HILL BY
805 PM.
 
PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD BE ALERT FOR LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS4. FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN CAN OCCUR
WITH ANY THUNDERSTORM.
 
KAJ

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jan 8, 2:25 PM EST, 5 hours 27 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 8, 2:25 PM EST, 5 hours 27 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE/SPARTANBURG, SC
225 PM EST THU JAN 8 1998

FFC:  50% RW/TS TONIGHT
RAH:  ALLOW FFA TO EXPIRE/PARTLY CLOUDY FRI FOOT/PIED
CAE:  INCLUDE TS TONIGHT

DISC: SCT CONVECION SHOULD DEVELOP OVER CWA LATER AND LAST THROUGH
TONIGHT AS COLD AIR ADVECTION AND DRYING AT MID AND UPPER LEVEL LEVELS
COMBINE WITH SOME SURFACE HEATING THIS AFTERNOON. EXPECT ABOUT 40%
TOTAL COVERAGE OVER CWA WITH POSSIBILITY OF HAIL. INITIALLY A BRIEF
CHANGEOVER TO SNOW LOOKED POSSIBLE FOR NC MOUNTAINS TONIGHT. HOWEVER
CLOSER EXAMINATION OF MODEL SOUNDINGS SUGGESTS LIMITED MOISTURE BELOW
THE -10 TO -15 TEMP THRESHOLD FOR BEST SNOW CRYSTAL FORMATION. A BRIEF
PERIOD OF FREEZING DZ APPEARS TO BE MORE LIKELY RATHER THAN SNOW. MOST
OF NC MNTS SHOULD BE AFFECTED BY WRAP AROUND MOISTURE FRI WHILE COLD
AIR ADVECTION IS OFFSET SOME BY DOWNSLOPE FLOW IN FOOT/PIED SECTIONS.

AVL  45/47/27/47  500
CLT  55/61/34/51  300
GSP  51/57/31/51  400

KAJ

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jan 8, 6:07 PM EST, 1 hour 45 minutes before

SCZ001>014-019-GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-
062>072-082-090200-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
607 PM EST THU JAN 8 1998

...HAIL-PRODUCING THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE SCATTERED ACROSS THE AREA
THIS EVENING...

THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED RAPIDLY LATE THIS AFTERNOON IN THE SOUTHERN
APPALACHIANS. HALF-INCH DIAMETER HAIL WAS REPORTED NEAR NANTAHALA
AND FRANKLIN IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA.

CONDITIONS ARE VERY FAVORABLE THIS EVENING FOR THUNDERSTORMS TO
PRODUCE HAIL. A FEW OF THE STORMS MAY REACH SEVERE LEVELS AND
PRODUCE DIME-SIZED OR LARGER HAIL.

SPOTTER GROUPS ARE REQUESTED TO FORWARD ALL HAIL REPORTS TO THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

PEOPLE IN THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA SHOULD
REMAIN ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS THIS EVENING.
STAY TUNED TO YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA OUTLET...OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO...
FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION...INCLUDING ANY WATCHES OR WARNINGS.

ZOLTOWSKI
&

END

Local storm report, Jan 8, 6:53 PM EST, 59 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
653 PM EST THU JAN 08 1998

TIME (EST) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

653 PM     TAMASSEE                  SC   1.75 INCH HAIL
01/08/98   OCONEE                         REPORTED BY 911
                                          COMMUNICATIONS CENTER

KAJ

Local storm report, Jan 8, 6:53 PM EST, 59 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
653 PM EST THU JAN 08 1998

TIME (EST) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

653 PM     TAMASSEE                  SC   1.75 INCH HAIL
01/08/98   OCONEE                         REPORTED BY 911
                                          COMMUNICATIONS CENTER

KAJ

Local storm report, Jan 8, 7:18 PM EST, 34 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
718 PM EST THU JAN 08 1998

TIME (EST) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

715 PM     LAKE TOXAWAY              NC   1.00 INCH HAIL
01/08/98   TRANSYLVANIA                   1 TO 2 INCHES OF HAIL
                                          REPORTED TO BE COVERING
                                          GROUND.

KAJ

Local storm report, Jan 8, 7:18 PM EST, 34 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
718 PM EST THU JAN 08 1998

TIME (EST) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

715 PM     LAKE TOXAWAY              NC   1.00 INCH HAIL
01/08/98   TRANSYLVANIA                   1 TO 2 INCHES OF HAIL
                                          REPORTED TO BE COVERING
                                          GROUND.

KAJ

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 8, 8:08 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Gaston	37 min
Jan 8, 8:21 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Haywood, Madison	39 min
Jan 8, 8:35 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Catawba, Lincoln	40 min
Jan 8, 9:23 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Alexander, Iredell	22 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Carolina, 1998 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1998

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.