Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

February 17, 1998Greenwood County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Feb 17, 1998, 11:41 AM EST for Greenwood County, South Carolina. It was in force for 34 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
Feb 17, 1998, 11:41 AM EST (16:41 UTC)
Expired
Feb 17, 1998, 12:15 PM EST
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Greenwood County, SC

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Feb 17, 11:45 AM ESTHail 1Cokesbury, SC
Feb 17, 11:45 AM ESTThunderstorm Wind 50Cokesbury, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Feb 17, 9:30 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 4.7 hours before the alert went out and 236 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 1998-02-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 92 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 1998-02-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 626 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
92 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-90 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
510 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
85 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
626 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
581 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

609 
WFUS1 KGSP 171640 RRA
TORGSP
SCC047-171715-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
1141 AM EST TUE FEB 17 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1215 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...NORTHERN GREENWOOD COUNTY
 
AT 1137 AM A TORNADO WAS SHOWN DEVELOPING NEAR HODGES OR ABOUT 9 MILES
NORTH OF GREENWOOD. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST ABOUT 50 MPH
ACROSS COKESBURY TO THE LAURENS COUNTY BORDER SHORTLY AFTER 1145 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.
 
A WARNING MAY BE ISSUED FOR LAURENS COUNTY SOON.  THIS REPLACES THE
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR GREENWOOD COUNTY.
 
JONES

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 17, 9:34 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPGreenville41 min
Feb 17, 9:41 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPOconee49 min
Feb 17, 10:04 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPPickens41 min
Feb 17, 10:54 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPGreenwood51 min
Feb 17, 11:45 AM ESTTornado WarningGSPLaurens45 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.