Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 47, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

June 5, 1998Cherokee County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Jun 5, 1998, 8:24 PM EDT for Cherokee County, South Carolina. It was in force for 31 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
Jun 5, 1998, 8:24 PM EDT (00:24 UTC)
Expired
Jun 5, 1998, 8:55 PM EDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Cherokee County, SC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 58 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:24 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 0.4 hours before the alert went out and 193 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 1998-06-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 284 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 1998-06-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 69 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
284 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
950 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
69 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
145 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

548 
WFUS1 KGSP 060025 RRA
TORGSP
SCC021-060055-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
824 PM EDT FRI JUN 5 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 855 PM EDT

* AT 823 PM... EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT REPORTED A TORNADO NEAR
CHESNEE..
  . MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  GAFFNEY AT 845 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 Jun 5, 2:12 PM EDT, 6 hours 12 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 5, 2:12 PM EDT, 6 hours 12 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
212 PM EDT FRI JUN 5 1998

CAE/RAH/FFC: CHC POPS TONIGHT...20-30% POPS SATURDAY.

WITH CLRG LINE PROGRESSING EASTWARD ACRS CWA THIS AFTERNOON...
ATMOSPHERE GRADUALLY RECOVERING.  WV LOOPS SHOW SOME DRYING
ALOFT WHICH MAY BE ENOUGH TO GET SOMETHING ISOLATED GOING...BUT
FEEL TSTM CHCS BETTER DURING TONIGHT PERIOD WITH SOME PRE-FRONTAL
OR OUTFLOW BNDRYS UPSTREAM WHICH SHOULD MOVE INTO AREA...NOT TO
MENTION SYNOPTIC SCALE FRONT SAGGING SE TWDS FA OVERNIGHT.

FRONT PROGGED TO BE SOUTH/EAST OF FA BY 00Z SUN WITH DRYING SLATED
FOR SATURDAY AFTERNOON.  ALWAYS A TOUGH CALL WITH THESE LATE SEASON
FRONTS & THEIR PUNCH SWD...SO WITH LINGERING LLVL RH LIKELY...BEST
TO LEAVE CHC POPS IN FCST FOR SATURDAY.  MODIFIED CONTINENTAL AIRMASS
LOOKS TO ENOUGH PUSH TO MOVE IN BY SATURDAY WITH THE COOLEST TEMPS
WEVE SEEN IN ABOUT A MONTH.

AVL  62/74/55/70  4200
CLT  69/80/63/77  3210
GSP  67/80/60/76  4310

CSH

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 5, 4:32 PM EDT, 3 hours 52 minutes before
NCZ051>053-058-059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-019-060430-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
432 PM EDT FRI JUN 5 1998

...STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE LATE THIS EVENING IN
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA AND EXTREME SOUTHERN NORTH CAROLINA...

A LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WAS WORKING ITS WAY
EASTWARD FROM CENTRAL ALABAMA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND SHOULD
REACH THE UPSTATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS
OF NORTH CAROLINA AROUND 9 PM OR SO...REACHING THE CHARLOTTE METRO
AREA AROUND 11 PM. WITH MOSTLY SUNNY SKIES MAXIMIZING DAYTIME
HEATING AND ABUNDANT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE IN PLACE...THE ATMOSPHERE
HAS ONCE AGAIN BECOME UNSTABLE ENOUGH TO PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS AND
SOME HAIL.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS ALREADY BEEN POSTED FOR MOST OF
GEORGIA...INCLUDING THE NORTHEAST GEORGIA COUNTIES BORDERING THE
CAROLINAS. SHOULD THE THUNDERSTORMS IN ALABAMA MAINTAIN INTENSITY
OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS...IT IS POSSIBLE THAT A WATCH WILL BE ISSUED
FOR SOME PARTS OF THE WESTERN CAROLINAS LATER TONIGHT.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL RADIO AND TELEVISION OR
CABLE TELEVISION FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

BURRUS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 5, 8:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPYork32 min
Jun 6, 4:38 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPSpartanburg, Union32 min
Jun 6, 5:01 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCherokee44 min
Jun 6, 5:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPUnion35 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.