Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

January 7, 1998Elbert County, Georgia

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Jan 7, 1998, 8:25 PM EST for Elbert County, Georgia. It was in force for 50 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 7, 1998, 8:25 PM EST (01:25 UTC)
Expired
Jan 7, 1998, 9:15 PM EST
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Elbert County, GA

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 102 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:29 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
Jan 7, 8:45 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 50Countywide, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jan 7, 7:45 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 175 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 1998-01-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 6 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 1998-01-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 183 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
6 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-131 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
604 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
183 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
237 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.

503 
WFUS1 KGSP 080131 RRA
TORGSP
GAC105-080215-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
825 PM EST WED JAN 7 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  915 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA
 
   ...ELBERT COUNTY
 
RADAR AT 825 PM EST INDICATED A TORNADO IN WESTERN ELBERT COUNTY
ABOUT 2 MILES WEST OF THE CITY OF ELBERTON. THIS STORM WILL MOVE
NORTH AT 60 MPH AND WILL TO JUST EAST OF DEWY ROSE IN THE NEXT FEW
MINUTES...THEN PROGRESS RAPIDLY NORTH.
 
ANOTHER TORNADO WAS POSSIBLY MOVING THROUGH OGLETHORPE COUNTY AND WILL
MOVE RAPIDLY NORTH INTO SOUTHERN ELBERT COUNTY JUST WEST OF FORTSORNIA
BEFORE 845 PM.
 
TORNADOES WHICH OCCUR AFTER DARK ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS. GET TO A
PLACE OF SAFETY NOW STAY AWAY FROM DOORS AND WINDOWS...BUT GET OUT
OF MOBILE HOMES AND CARS. IF DAMAGE OCCURS NEAR YOU...DO NOT ATTEMPT
TO WALK AROUND IN THE DARK. THERE MAY BE DOWNED POWER LINES.
 
KAJ

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Georgia, 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.