Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 49, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

June 16, 1998Alexander County, Caldwell County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Jun 16, 1998, 2:18 PM EDT for Alexander County, Caldwell County, North Carolina. It was in force for 47 min. 4 reports 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
Jun 16, 1998, 2:18 PM EDT (18:18 UTC)
Expired
Jun 16, 1998, 3:05 PM EDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Alexander County, NC, Caldwell County, NC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 141 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:17 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
Jun 16, 2:20 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 55Kings Creek, NC
Jun 16, 2:20 PM EDTHail 2Kings Creek, NC
Jun 16, 2:36 PM EDTHail 1.75Ellendale, NC
Jun 16, 2:55 PM EDTHail 1.25Hiddenite, 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
Jun 16, 2:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 218 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 1998-06-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 121 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 1998-06-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 92 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
121 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-77 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
914 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
92 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
108 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

848 
WFUS1 KGSP 161819 RRA
TORGSP
NCC003-027-161905-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
218 PM EDT TUE JUN 16 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN CALDWELL COUNTY IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
  ALEXANDER COUNTY IN NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 305 PM EDT

* AT 217 PM... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING
  TORNADO 5 MILES EAST OF LENOIR... MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...

  LITTLE RIVER AT 237 PM
  TAYLORSVILLE AT 257 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

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 16, 4:40 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPMecklenburg30 min
Jun 16, 1:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCaldwell61 min
Jun 16, 2:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPMcDowell26 min
Jun 16, 2:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPBurke45 min
Jun 16, 3:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPDavie34 min
Jun 16, 6:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCatawba35 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.