Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

January 8, 1998York County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Jan 8, 1998, 1:02 AM EST for York County, South Carolina. It was in force for 43 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 8, 1998, 1:02 AM EST (06:02 UTC)
Expired
Jan 8, 1998, 1:45 AM EST
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County York County, SC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:04 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 8, 1:30 AM ESTThunderstorm Wind 50Rock Hill, SC

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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 169 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 00:00Z on 1998-01-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 203 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 1998-01-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 199 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 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
203 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
564 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
199 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
244 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

768 
WFUS1 KGSP 080604 RRA
TORGSP
SCC091-080645-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
102 AM EST THU JAN 8 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  145 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...YORK COUNTY
 
WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A TORNADO MOVING INTO YORK COUNTY ABOUT 5 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF MCCONNELS. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 60 MPH. EXPECT THE
TORNADO TO PASS NEAR ROCK HILL BY 130 AM...THEN ON TO FORT MILL AREA
BY 145 AM.
 
PEOPLE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE
ACTION TO PROTECT THEIR LIVES. GO TO YOUR BASEMENT...THE CENTER OF
BUILDINGS...COVER YOUR HEAD. DO NOT GO NEAR DOORS OR WINDOWS. GET
OUT OF MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES. GET INTO A STURDY BUILDING OR A
DITCH.
 
SAB

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 7, 8:00 PM ESTTornado WarningGSPAnderson, Oconee30 min
Jan 7, 10:34 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningGSPAnderson, Greenville, Laurens, Spartanburg4 hr
Jan 8, 12:47 AM ESTTornado WarningGSPChester43 min
Jan 8, 3:00 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningGSPGreenville, Spartanburg4 hr
Jan 8, 3:00 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningGSPPickens4 hr
Jan 8, 6:49 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPOconee26 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.