Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1999

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

April 24, 1999Greenville County, Laurens County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 24, 1999, 3:24 PM EDT for Greenville County, Laurens County, South Carolina. It was in force for 46 min. 3 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
Apr 24, 1999, 3:24 PM EDT (19:24 UTC)
Expired
Apr 24, 1999, 4:10 PM EDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Greenville County, SC, Laurens County, SC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 22 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:27 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
Apr 24, 3:28 PM EDTHail 0.88Fountain Inn, SC
Apr 24, 3:44 PM EDTHail 0.75Gray Court, SC
Apr 24, 4:06 PM EDTHail 1.75Laurens, 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

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 7.4 hours before the alert went out and 259 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 1999-04-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1372 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 1999-04-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 125 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1372 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-118 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
784 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
125 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
137 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.

999 
WUUS1 KGSP 241925 RRA
SVRGSP
SCC045-059-242010-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
324 PM EDT SAT APR 24 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHEASTERN GREENVILLE COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA
  NORTHERN LAURENS COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 410 PM EDT

* AT 322 PM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 17 MILES NORTHWEST OF LAURENS OR 5 MILES
  NORTHWEST OF OWINGS... MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  OWINGS AT 330 PM EDT
  GRAY COURT AT 335 PM EDT
  LANFORD AT 345 PM EDT
  ORA   AT 350 PM EDT
  LAURENS AT 355 PM EDT

ALTHOUGH LARGE HAIL IS THE BIGGEST THREAT WITH THIS SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM...BRIEF DAMAGING WINDS COULD ALSO OCCUR.

DEO

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 severe thunderstorm warning went out at Apr 24, 2:55 PM EDT, 29 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 24, 2:55 PM EDT, 29 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
255 PM EDT SAT APR 24 1999

ISOLATED TSTMS FIRING ATTM IN GSP VCNTY IN HIGHER DWPT/CNVRG AXIS...
AS PER LATEST ADAP & MESOANALYSIS.  WILL BASE DECISION ON WHETHER TO
INCLUDE EVENING PERIOD IN ZFP FOR THIS ACTIVITY OR JUST NOWCAST
BASED ON COVERAGE AT ISSUANCE TIME...ABOUT 330-345 PM.

OTHERWISE...WILL CONTINUE 30% POP FOR LIGHT RAIN WHERE CURRENTLY
MENTIONED TONIGHT DUE TO COMBINATION OF DEVELOPING WEAK SOUTHERLY 850
MB FLOW...UPSLOPE AND CONVERGENCE ALONG INVERTED SFC TROUGH.  NEW SHORT
RANGE GUIDANCE IN DECENT AGREEMENT IN KEEPING FORCING MINIMAL IN WEAK
NW FLOW ALOFT THEREAFTER THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT WITH AVAILABLE RH NARROW
& CONFINED TO AROUND 850 MB.

BY 48 HRS...12Z MON...UPPER LEVEL FEATURES HANDLED SIMILARLY BY MODELS
WITH S/WV RIDGE AXIS STILL WEST OF MTNS WITH AVN TRANSLATING THIS
FEATURE EASTWARD DURING THE DAY IN RESPONSE TO UPPER LOW HEADING ACROSS
THE PLAINS.  EFFECTS OF LLVL RIDGING EXPECTED TO BE LESSENING SO LIKELY
TO SEE INCREASING AMTS OF DEEPER RH & RETURN FLOW.  FWC/FAN NUMBERS IN
AGREEMENT WITH CHC POPS FOR WESTERN SECTIONS IN THE AFTERNOON & AT THIS
POINT LOOKS TO BE REASONABLE & WILL FOLLOW.

AVL  49/65/49/71  3213
CLT  50/70/52/76  2112
GSP  55/71/53/77  3213

.GSP...NONE.

CSH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 24, 3:50 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPLaurens30 min
Apr 24, 4:19 PM EDTTornado WarningGSPLaurens51 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 1999Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1999

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.