Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2008

Tornado Warning 59, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

December 10, 2008Cherokee County, Spartanburg County, Union County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Dec 10, 2008, 12:57 PM EST for Cherokee County, Spartanburg County, Union County, South Carolina. It was in force for 22 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Dec 10, 2008, 12:57 PM EST (17:57 UTC)
Expired: Dec 10, 2008, 1:19 PM EST
In force: 22 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Storm-based polygon

Counties Cherokee County, SC, Spartanburg County, SC, Union County, SC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 43 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:57 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 305 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 4 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -24 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 552 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 388 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 447 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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 Dec 10, 10:56 AM EST, 2 hours 1 minute earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 10, 10:56 AM EST, 2 hours 1 minute before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 10, 5:20 AM EST, 7 hours 37 minutes before

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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Dec 10, 8:41 AM EST, 4 hours 16 minutes before

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Special weather statement, Dec 10, 10:48 AM EST, 2 hours 9 minutes before

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Local storm report, Dec 10, 10:58 AM EST, 1 hour 59 minutes before

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Special weather statement, Dec 10, 11:40 AM EST, 1 hour 17 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1140 AM EST WED DEC 10 2008

GAZ029-SCZ011-101715-
ABBEVILLE-ELBERT-
1140 AM EST WED DEC 10 2008

...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT ELBERT AND SOUTHWESTERN
ABBEVILLE COUNTIES THROUGH 1215 PM EST...

AT 1137 AM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM 7 MILES EAST OF COMER...OR 9 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
ELBERTON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR...
  ELBERTON BY 1150 AM EST.
  RUCKERSVILLE BY 1155 AM EST.
  LAKE RUSSELL BY NOON EST.

WIND GUSTS OF 40 TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM.

MCAVOY

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 10, 3:51 AM EST	Flash Flood Watch	GSP	Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Transylvania	9 hr
Dec 10, 4:39 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Graham, Swain	66 min
Dec 10, 2:39 PM EST	Flood Watch	GSP	Alexander, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell and 22 more	27 hr
Dec 10, 11:48 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Abbeville	42 min
Dec 10, 12:07 PM EST	Tornado Warning	GSP	Abbeville, Greenwood, Laurens	23 min
Dec 10, 12:31 PM EST	Tornado Warning	GSP	Laurens, Spartanburg, Union	35 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Carolina, 2008 Every tornado warning in 2008 Tornadoes in 2008

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.