Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 50, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Sep 8, 1998, 2:47 PM EDT for Chester County, South Carolina. It was in force for 18 min. 2 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
- Sep 8, 1998, 2:47 PM EDT (18:47 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 8, 1998, 3:05 PM EDT
- In force
- 18 min
- Issued by
- NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Chester County, SC
The radar
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:50 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 8, 2:55 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 60 | Great Falls, SC | |
| Sep 8, 2:55 PM EDT | Hail 2.75 | Great Falls, 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 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 192 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 484 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -53 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1483 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 41 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 40 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 43 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KGSP 081847 RRA TORGSP SCC023-081905- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 247 PM EDT TUE SEP 8 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... EASTERN CHESTER COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA * UNTIL 305 PM EDT * AT 245 PM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 14 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CHESTER OR 3 MILES NORTHWEST OF BECKHAMVILLE MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. * THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR... GREAT FALLS AT 255 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. RWH
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 Sep 8, 2:30 PM EDT, 17 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 8, 2:30 PM EDT, 17 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 230 PM EDT TUE SEP 8 1998 CD FNT WILL CONTINUE TO CLEAR REST OF THE FA THIS AFTERNOON WITH SHARP CLEARING LINE NOTED ON VIS IMAGERY. STG CAA THEN TO FOLLOW AND CONTINUE INTO TONIGHT. ETA FCST LLVL WIND FIELDS NOT VRY STG TONIGHT BUT CAA WILL LIKELY KEEP UP BZY CONDTIONS IN MTNS... PROBABLY NOT SIGNIFICANT ENOUGH TO MENTION IN ZONES. IN ADDITION ...WRAP-AROUND RH NOT VERY EXTENSIVE WITH 95H/85H RH PROGS SHOWING >70% REMAINING N OF NC. EXPECT SOME CAA STRATCU ACROSS NW NC INTO EARLY EVENING...WITH MOST DISSIPATING WITH LOSS OF HTG. SOME COLD AIR CU DEVELOPING IN MTNS TOMORROW ALONG WITH BZY CONDITIONS ...BUT NOT WORSE THAN BECOMING PARTLY SUNNY. OTHERWISE...FOR THE PERIOD WED-THU...BASICALLY JUST A TEMPERATURE FCST AS RIDGING WILL GRADUALLY BUILD IN THROUGH THE END OF THE PERIOD. AVL 49/74/47/74 0000 CLT 56/80/54/80 0000 GSP 55/81/53/81 0000 CSH
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Sep 8, 10:48 AM EDT, 3 hours 59 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ035>037-056-057-066>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-082200- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 1048 AM EDT TUE SEP 8 1998 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS STILL POSSIBLE EAST AND SOUTHEAST OF THE MOUNTAINS... THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AHEAD OF A SOUTHWARD SINKING COLD FRONT THROUGH THE MID-AFTERNOON HOURS. WARM AND HUMID AIR IN PLACE ACROSS THE REGION WILL COMBINE WITH A RATHER COLD AND DEEP TROUGH ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF THE U.S. RESULTING IN MODERATE TO HIGH AMOUNTS OF INSTABILITY. THE MOST UNSTABLE AIR WILL BE AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT TODAY...PRIMARILY ACROSS NORTHEAST GEORGIA...THE SOUTH CAROLINA UPSTATE AND THE NORTH CAROLINA PIEDMONT. GIVEN A STRONG WIND PROFILE THROUGHOUT THE ATMOSPHERE...THE BIGGEST THREAT FROM SEVERE STORMS TODAY WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS AND TO A LESSER EXTENT LARGE HAIL. BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY IF SEVERE WEATHER THREATENS YOUR AREA. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...YOUR LOCAL TELEVISION ...CABLE TV OR RADIO STATION FOR FURTHER UPDATES OR ANY WATCHES OR WARNINGS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. HORNE
Local storm report, Sep 8, 1:09 PM EDT, 1 hour 38 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
109 PM EDT TUE SEP 08 1998
TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST ...EVENT/REMARKS...
.....COUNTY LOCATION.....
1251 PM 2 NE HARRISBURG NC TORNADO
09/08/98 CABARRUS REPORTED BY FIRE
DEPARTMENT. TREES DOWN
AND ROOFS OFF BUILDINGS.The office that day
Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 8, 2:33 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Chester | 47 min |
| Sep 8, 2:52 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Laurens | 33 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.