Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

April 19, 1998Laurens County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Apr 19, 1998, 2:38 PM EDT for Laurens County, South Carolina. It was in force for 32 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 19, 1998, 2:38 PM EDT (18:38 UTC)
Expired
Apr 19, 1998, 3:10 PM EDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Laurens County, SC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 49 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:37 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 256 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1998-04-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 725 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1998-04-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 163 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
725 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-58 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
577 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
163 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
194 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
3.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

982 
WFUS1 KGSP 191839 RRA
TORGSP
SCC059-191910-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
238 PM EDT SUN APR 19 1998

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

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  LAURENS COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 310 PM EDT

* AT 238 PM... SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO NEAR THE CITY OF
  LAURENS... MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MILES AN HOUR.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE...
  EAST OF ORA BY 250 PM
  EAST OF LANFORD BY 300 PM

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IN A HOME OR
BUSINESS IS AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. STAY AWAY
FROM DOORS AND WINDOWS.

JAT

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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 tornado warning went out at Apr 19, 1:58 PM EDT, 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 19, 1:58 PM EDT, 40 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE/SPARTANBURG, SC
158 PM EDT SUN APR 19 1998

ALL: DECREASING CLOUDS TONIGHT. MOSTLY SUNNY MON. MOSTLY CLEAR
     MON NIGHT. INCREASING CLOUDS TUE WITH SLIGHT CHANCE SHOWERS
     NC MOUNTAINS. TEMPERATURES/POPS FWC/FAN COMPROMISE.

DRIER AIRMASS TO MOVE ACROSS AREA OVERNIGHT. SOME MOISTURE RECOVERY
TAKES PLACE LATE MON AS A WEAK IMPULSE APPROACHES. A SHORTWAVE
APPROACHES LATE TUE IN NW FLOW ACCOMPANIED BY MORE SUBSTANTIAL
MOISTURE. PRECIPITAITON WITH SYSTEM SHOULD JUST REACH MOUNTAINS
LATE TUE AFTERNOON.

AVL   42/64/40/64   1002
CLT   50/71/48/70   100-
GSP   45/70/45/68   -001

JAT

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 19, 3:21 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPYork34 min
Apr 19, 3:59 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPYork31 min
Apr 19, 4:36 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPYork34 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.