Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

October 4, 1999Oconee County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Oct 4, 1999, 9:37 AM EDT for Oconee County, South Carolina. It was in force for 33 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
Oct 4, 1999, 9:37 AM EDT (13:37 UTC)
Expired
Oct 4, 1999, 10:10 AM EDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Oconee County, SC

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Oct 4, 9:45 AM EDTTornado F0Tokeena Xrds, 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, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 203 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 1999-10-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 594 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 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 1999-10-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 104 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
594 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-39 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
654 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
104 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
91 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGSP 041338 RRA
TORGSP
SCC073-041410-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
937 AM EDT MON OCT 4 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN OCONEE COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 1010 AM EDT

* AT 936 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING
  TORNADO 3 MILES WEST OF OAKWAY OR 5 MILES SOUTH OF WESTMINSTER...
  MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  OAKWAY AT 945 AM
  SENECA AT 10 AM

$$
JONES

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 Oct 4, 9:30 AM EDT, 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 4, 9:30 AM EDT, 7 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
930 AM EDT MON OCT 4 1999

LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVING SLOWLY THROUGH WRN CAROLINAS/NE GA.
STRONGEST CONVECTION FROM GSP SOUTH.  LINE WELL AHEAD OF FRONT WHERE
BEST CONVERGENCE WITHIN MOISTURE PLUME FROM GULF DISTURBANCE.
EXITING MID LEVEL JETLET PROVIDING SOME FORCING BUT MORE IMPORTANTLY
...LOW LEVEL JET THROUGH AL/GA FEEDING SYSTEM.  DEEP MOISTURE
LIMITING BOUYANCY WITH MAX SBCAPE PROGGED AT BTWN 1000-1200 WITH MAX
OF 73...WHICH SEEMS OUT OF REACH WITH CONTINUED RAIN.  WHILE NOT
IDEAL...LOW LEVEL WIND FIELDS SUGGEST THAT SOME BROAD CIRCULATION
COULD DEVELOP...POSSIBLY PRODUCING AN ISOLATED DAMAGING STORM.
MINOR WAVE IN FLOW COULD TURN WIND FIELD THIS AFTERNOON AS MEAN
TROUGH SLIDES EAST.  WILL NOT CHANGE FORECAST MUCH...LEAVING POPS
HIGH...MAYBE BUMPING UP TO CATEGORICAL.  TEMPERATURES WILL NEED TO
BE ADJUSTED AS WELL.                                      DELGADO

.GSP...NONE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 4, 11:52 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPGreenville3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Carolina, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes 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.