Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

February 17, 1998Laurens County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Feb 17, 1998, 11:45 AM EST for Laurens County, South Carolina. It was in force for 45 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
Feb 17, 1998, 11:45 AM EST (16:45 UTC)
Expired
Feb 17, 1998, 12:30 PM EST
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Laurens County, SC

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Feb 17, 12:03 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 50Laurens, 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

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 4.8 hours before the alert went out and 256 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1998-02-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1998-02-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 177 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1239 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
73 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
177 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
124 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGSP 171645 RRA
TORGSP
SCC059-171730-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
1145 AM EST TUE FEB 17 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1230 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...LAURENS COUNTY
 
AT 1143 AM RADAR SHOWED A TORNADO LIKELY OCCURRING IN A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM NEAR COKESBURY IN GREENWOOD COUNTY. THE STORM WILL MOVE
ACROSS THE WESTERN PART OF LAURENS COUNTY...INCLUDING THE NORTHERN PART
OF LAKE GREENWOOD...PERHAPS REACHING NEAR THE CITY OF LAURENS AROUND
NOON OR SHORTLY AFTER.
 
TORNADOES IN THE SOUTH ARE HARD TO SEE BECAUSE OF RAIN...LOW
CLOUDS...AND TREES. TAKE COVER NOW...DO NOT TRY TO WAIT ON THE
STORM AND DO NOT TRY TO OUTRUN IT.
 
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, 11:41 AM ESTTornado WarningGSPGreenwood34 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.