Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 30, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

April 19, 1998Union County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Apr 19, 1998, 4:58 PM EDT for Union County, North Carolina. It was in force for 47 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 19, 1998, 4:58 PM EDT (20:58 UTC)
Expired
Apr 19, 1998, 5:45 PM EDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Union County, NC

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 19, 5:05 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Stallings, 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
Apr 19, 3:00 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 134 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.

738 
WFUS1 KGSP 192059 RRA
TORGSP
NCC179-192145-

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

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

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  UNION COUNTY IN NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 545 PM EDT

* AT 457 PM... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO 12 MILES WEST OF MONROE...NEAR WAXHAW...
  MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  BAKERS AT 515 PM
  FAIRVIEW AT 525 PM

PEOPLE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD TAKE ACTION NOW
TO PROTECT THEIR LIVES.  GO TO YOUR BASEMENT...THE CENTER OF
BUILDINGS...COVER YOUR HEAD.  DO NOT GO NEAR DOORS AND WINDOWS. GET
OUT OF MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES AND GO TO A STURDY BUILDING OR A
DITCH.

MOYER

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, 3 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 19, 1:58 PM EDT, 3 hours 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

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 19, 3:11 PM EDT, 1 hour 47 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
311 PM EDT SUN APR 19 1998

TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

235 PM     WATERLOO                  SC   TORNADO
04/19/98   LAURENS                        FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED
                                          TORNADO ON THE GROUND ON
                                          INDIAN MOUND ROAD NEAR
                                          LAURENS. A LARGE TREE WAS
                                          REPORTED ON A HOUSE ON
                                          TIDE QUARTER ROAD NEAR
                                          WATERLOO.

NEAL
Local storm report, Apr 19, 3:11 PM EDT, 1 hour 47 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
311 PM EDT SUN APR 19 1998

TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

235 PM     WATERLOO                  SC   TORNADO
04/19/98   LAURENS                        FIRE DEPARTMENT REPORTED
                                          TORNADO ON THE GROUND ON
                                          INDIAN MOUND ROAD NEAR
                                          LAURENS. A LARGE TREE WAS
                                          REPORTED ON A HOUSE ON
                                          TIDE QUARTER ROAD NEAR
                                          WATERLOO.

NEAL
Local storm report, Apr 19, 3:26 PM EDT, 1 hour 32 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
326 PM EDT SUN APR 19 1998

TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

315 PM     2 N DALLAS                NC   OTHER
04/19/98   GASTON                         VOLUNTEER FIREMAN REPORTED
                                          TWIN FUNNEL CLOUDS

NEAL
Local storm report, Apr 19, 4:10 PM EDT, 48 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
410 PM EDT SUN APR 19 1998

TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

330 PM     W OF CLOVER               SC   TORNADO
04/19/98   YORK                           COUNTY COMMS REPORTS BARN
                                          DOWN AND TRUCK FLIPPED
                                          OVER ON GREENLEA\F RD

JONES
Local storm report, Apr 19, 4:10 PM EDT, 48 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
410 PM EDT SUN APR 19 1998

TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

330 PM     W OF CLOVER               SC   TORNADO
04/19/98   YORK                           COUNTY COMMS REPORTS BARN
                                          DOWN AND TRUCK FLIPPED
                                          OVER ON GREENLEA\F RD

JONES
Local storm report, Apr 19, 4:26 PM EDT, 32 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
426 PM EDT SUN APR 19 1998

TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

408 PM     ROCK HILL                 SC   TORNADO
04/19/98   YORK                           911 REPORTS WOMAN VIEWED
                                          TORNADO TOUCH DOWN IN OPEN
                                          AREA BEHIND HOUSE WITH NO
                                          DAMAGE
JONES

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, 3:03 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPGaston, Lincoln17 min
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

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.