Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 31, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

May 7, 1998Rabun County, Georgia

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at May 7, 1998, 4:18 PM EDT for Rabun County, Georgia. It was in force for 62 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
May 7, 1998, 4:18 PM EDT (20:18 UTC)
Expired
May 7, 1998, 5:20 PM EDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Rabun County, GA

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 108 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:20 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
May 7, 4:55 PM EDTHail 1.75Clayton, 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 nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 196 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 12:00Z on 1998-05-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 650 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 12:00Z on 1998-05-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 193 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
650 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-129 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
521 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
68 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
193 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
5 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-3.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

054 
WFUS1 KGSP 072019 RRA
TORGSP
GAC241-072120-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
418 PM EDT THU MAY 7 1998

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

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  RABUN COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN GEORGIA

* UNTIL 520 PM EDT

* AT 418 PM... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO IN CENTRAL TOWNS COUNTY...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO ENTER WESTERN RABUN COUNTY NEAR
  THE TALLULAH RIVER BETWEEN 430 PM AND 440 AND TO NEAR TIGER AND
  WILEY BY 450 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.
  KAJ

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 7, 9:49 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPHabersham, Stephens46 min
May 7, 10:48 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPFranklin, Hart32 min
May 7, 4:28 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPHabersham47 min
May 7, 5:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPFranklin49 min
May 7, 5:50 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPElbert, Hart45 min
May 7, 5:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPRabun66 min
May 7, 6:04 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPElbert46 min
May 7, 6:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPHabersham47 min
May 7, 7:07 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPRabun48 min

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.