Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

March 20, 1998Cabarrus County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Mar 20, 1998, 2:44 PM EST for Cabarrus County, North Carolina. It was in force for 46 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
Mar 20, 1998, 2:44 PM EST (19:44 UTC)
Expired
Mar 20, 1998, 3:30 PM EST
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Cabarrus County, NC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 162 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:43 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
Mar 20, 3:00 PM ESTHail 1Harrisburg, 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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Mar 20, 1:00 PM ESTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 223 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 1998-03-20Temperature 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°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 1998-03-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 179 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
595 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
179 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
234 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 201943 RRA
TORGSP
NCC025-202030-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
244 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA
 
   ...SOUTHERN CABARRUS COUNTY
 
AT 238 PM WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A TORNADO MOVING THROUGH EASTERN
MECKLENBURG COUNTY NEAR MINT HILL...OR ABOUT 10 MILES EAST OF
CHARLOTTE...MOVING EAST NORTHEAST TOWARD THE AREA AROUND AND NORTH
OF MIDLAND. THE STORM COULD REACH THE CONCORD AREA BY 3 PM.
 
PEOPLE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE
ACTIONx 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.
 
JONES

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 20, 7:50 AM ESTTornado WarningGSPJackson, Macon55 min
Mar 20, 8:49 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningGSPJackson3 hr
Mar 20, 2:04 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPDavie26 min
Mar 20, 2:17 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPMecklenburg28 min
Mar 20, 2:31 PM ESTTornado WarningGSPMecklenburg29 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes 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.