Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 48, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

April 23, 1998Anderson County, Pickens County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 23, 1998, 3:58 PM EDT for Anderson County, Pickens County, South Carolina. It was in force for 32 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 23, 1998, 3:58 PM EDT (19:58 UTC)
Expired
Apr 23, 1998, 4:30 PM EDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Anderson County, SC, Pickens County, SC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:59 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 23, 4:15 PM EDTHail 0.75Liberty, 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 295 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 1998-04-23Temperature 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 1998-04-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -41 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
690 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-41 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-26 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.

824 
WUUS1 KGSP 231959 RRA
SVRGSP
SCC007-077-232030-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
358 PM EDT THU APR 23 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC HAS
ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN PICKENS COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA
  NORTHERN ANDERSON COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 430 PM EDT

* AT 358 PM A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH LARGE HAIL WAS LOCATED...
  5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF EASLEY...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  PIEDMONT AT 415 PM

ALTHOUGH LARGE HAIL IS THE BIGGEST THREAT WITH THIS SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM...BRIEF DAMAGING WINDS COULD ALSO OCCUR.

NEAL

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 Apr 23, 2:20 PM EDT, 1 hour 38 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 23, 2:20 PM EDT, 1 hour 38 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
220 PM EDT THU APR 23 1998

DISC: MAIN FCST CHALLENGE THIS PD WL BE DIURNAL CONVECTION ONGOING ACRS
MAINLY THE WEST HALF OF THE FA.  SAT LOOP INDICATES FAIRLY WELL DEFINED
MESOSCALE CIRCULATION DROPPING SSW THROUGH E TN...WHICH APPERAS TO BE
FOCUSING THE MOST INTENSE CONVECTION IN THAT AREA.  WL HAVE TO DEAL
WITH A FEW HOURS OF SHRA/TSRA...SOME WITH HAIL...UNTIL SHORTLY AFTER
SUNSET WHEN ACTIVITY WL QUICKLY DECREASE.  MY CCF NUMBERS INCLUDE A 20
POP FOR THE PD BEGINNING 00Z...BUT WE WL NEED HIER POPS ERLY IN THE
ZONES TO COVER THE LATE AFTN HOURS.  OTHW TREND WL BE DECREASING CLDS
AND TEMPS IN LINE WITH GUIDANCE.

THE REST OF THE SHORT RANGE WL BE DOMINATED BY WARMING IN THE MID/UPPER
LVLS...AND RIDGING THROUGHOUT THE ATMOSPHERE.  WARMER FWC TEMPS LOOK
BEST TO ME...WITH EXPECTED FULL SUN AND 15-20 METER 1000/850 THICKNESS
RISES EACH DAY.

GSP 43/73/46/80 2000 ...
CLT 46/73/50/81 2000 .....RCMD CHC POPS IN THE ZONES BEFORE 00Z.
AVL 40/67/42/75 2000 ...

JOHNSTONE

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 23, 11:45 AM EDT, 4 hours 13 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-232145-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1145 AM EDT THU APR 23 1998

...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE SMALL HAIL THIS AFTERNOON AND
EARLY EVENING...

A POCKET OF VERY COLD AIR ALOFT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE AREA TODAY AND
HELP TO DESTABILIZE THE ATMOSPHERE.  SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE REGION THIS
AFTERNOON...AND WITH THE COLD AIR ALOFT SOME SMALL HAIL MAY ACCOMPANY
THE PRECIPITATION.

THE MAJOR LIMITING FACTOR FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT TODAY WILL BE
EXTENSIVE CLOUD COVER ACROSS THE REGION...WHICH WILL LIMIT SURFACE
HEATING AND INSTABILITY.  THE BEST CHANCE FOR HAIL PRODUCING
THUNDERSTORMS TODAY WILL BE ACROSS NORTHEAST GEORGIA AND THE WEST HALF
OF THE UPSTATE...WHERE THE MOST BREAKS IN THE CLOUDS WILL BE FOUND.

KEEP IT RIGHT HERE FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION.

JOHNSTONE
Special weather statement, Apr 23, 1:07 PM EDT, 2 hours 51 minutes before
GAZ010-NCZ048-051>053-058-059-062>065-SCZ001>003-232200-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
107 PM EDT THU APR 23 1998

...HAIL PRODUCING THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE OVER THE MOUNTAINS THIS
AFTERNOON...

SOME BREAKS IN THE CLOUDS ACROSS THE AREA...COMBINED WITH VERY COLD AIR
ALOFT AND A WEAK UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE...WILL LEAD TO THUNDERSTORM
DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON.  THE EXTREMELY COLD
TEMPERATURES ALOFT ARE FAVORABLE FOR HAIL FORMATION IN ANY SHOWERS OR
THUNDERSTORMS WHICH DEVELOP.

MOST OF THE HAIL WHICH FALLS WILL BE SMALL...ALTHOUGH A FEW AREAS MAY
SEE HAIL SIZES APPROACHING THE SEVERE LIMIT OF THREE QUARTERS OF AN
INCH.  HAIL THE SIZE OF DIMES AND QUARTERS HAS ALREADY BEEN REPORTED
ACROSS EAST TENNESSEE.

KEEP IT RIGHT HERE FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION.

JOHNSTONE

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 1998Every 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.