Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 22, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

April 19, 1998Gaston County, Lincoln County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Apr 19, 1998, 3:03 PM EDT for Gaston County, Lincoln County, North Carolina. It was in force for 17 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, 3:03 PM EDT (19:03 UTC)
Expired
Apr 19, 1998, 3:20 PM EDT
In force
17 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Gaston County, NC, Lincoln County, NC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 108 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:06 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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 19, 3:00 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 140 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 1998-04-19Temperature 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 1998-04-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 408 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
499 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
76 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
408 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
462 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.

110 
WFUS1 KGSP 191904 RRA
TORGSP
NCC071-109-191920-

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

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

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN LINCOLN COUNTY IN NORTH CAROLINA
  GASTON COUNTY IN NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 320 PM EDT

* AT 303 PM... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO 7 MILES WEST OF GASTONIA... MOVING NORTHEAST
  AT 45 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  DALLAS BY 310 PM
  STANLEY BY 315 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, 1 hour 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 19, 1:58 PM EDT, 1 hour 5 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, 10:37 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPJackson3 hr
Apr 19, 12:31 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPHenderson3 hr
Apr 19, 3:19 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPLincoln31 min
Apr 19, 3:36 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPGaston29 min
Apr 19, 4:05 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPMecklenburg30 min
Apr 19, 4:13 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPCabarrus, Rowan32 min
Apr 19, 4:58 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPUnion47 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.