Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 7, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Jan 8, 1998, 2:09 AM EST for Rowan County, North Carolina. It was in force for 21 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, 2:09 AM EST (07:09 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 8, 1998, 2:30 AM EST
- In force
- 21 min
- Issued by
- NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Rowan County, NC
The radar
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 156 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:11 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 8, 2:25 AM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 52 | Salisbury, 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 nearest sounding before it
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 7.2 hours before the alert went out and 75 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KGSP 080709 RRA TORGSP NCC159-080730- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC 209 AM EST THU JAN 8 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 230 AM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN WEST NORTH CAROLINA ...ROWAN COUNTY WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A TORNADO NEAR KANNAPOLIS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 60 MPH. THE TORNADO WILL ENTER ROWAN COUNTY 5 MILES EAST OF LANDIS NEAR INTERSTATE 85...MOVE RAPDILY TO SALISBURY BY 210 AM...THEN ONTO SPENCER BY 220 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.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 7, 11:11 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Burke, Caldwell | 5 hr |
| Jan 7, 11:11 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Polk, Rutherford | 5 hr |
| Jan 7, 11:11 PM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | McDowell | 5 hr |
| Jan 8, 12:01 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Buncombe, Henderson, Transylvania, Yancey | 4 hr |
| Jan 8, 12:01 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Avery, Mitchell | 4 hr |
| Jan 8, 1:19 AM EST | Tornado Warning | GSP | Mecklenburg | 56 min |
| Jan 8, 1:47 AM EST | Tornado Warning | GSP | Cabarrus | 43 min |
| Jan 8, 3:59 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Avery, Mitchell, Yancey | 4 hr |
| Jan 8, 3:59 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Haywood, Jackson, Transylvania | 4 hr |
| Jan 8, 3:59 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Buncombe, Henderson | 4 hr |
| Jan 8, 4:05 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Burke, McDowell, Polk, Rutherford | 4 hr |
| Jan 8, 4:05 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Caldwell | 4 hr |
| Jan 8, 7:52 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Buncombe, Haywood, Henderson, McDowell, Transylvania, Yancey | 4 hr |
| Jan 8, 7:52 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Polk | 4 hr |
| Jan 8, 7:52 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Avery, Burke, Caldwell | 4 hr |
| Jan 8, 7:52 AM EST | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Mitchell | 4 hr |
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.