Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 1, NWS Charleston, SC
NWS Charleston, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 20, 1986, 5:49 PM EDT for Berkeley County, Dorchester County, South Carolina. It was in force for 61 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
- May 20, 1986, 5:49 PM EDT (21:49 UTC)
- Expired
- May 20, 1986, 6:50 PM EDT
- In force
- 61 min
- Issued by
- NWS Charleston, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Berkeley County, SC, Dorchester County, SC
The radar
The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 6:15 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 51 | Berkeley, 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. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.
The nearest sounding before it
Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 31 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 984 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -9 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 547 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 21 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 89 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 96 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCHS 202149 SVRCHS SCC035-015-202250- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC 549 PM EDT TUE MAY 20 1986 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 650 PM EDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF SOUTH CAROLINA... DORCHESTER.. BERKELEY AT 545 EDT...CHARLESTON RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM WEST OF WALTERBORO IN COLLETON COUNTY TO SANTEE IN ORANGEBURG COUNTY. 1/2 TO 3/4 INCH HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED IN REEVESVILLE... DORCHESTER COUNTY. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL MOVE INTO BERKELY COUNTY WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR. THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL.. HEAVY RAINS.. DAMAGING WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. PEI
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.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 20, 12:24 PM EDT, 5 hours 25 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAVANNAH GA 1222 PM EDT TUE MAY 20 1986 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 PM EDT THIS AFTERNOON FOR ALL THE COUNTIES OF SOUTHEAST GEORGIA AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS... AT 1210 EDT WEATHER RADAR SHOWED ONLY A FEW SHOWERS OFFSHORE ABOUT 100 MILES EAST OF SAPELO ISLAND. THERE WAS NO INDICATION OF PRECIPITATION OVER THE COUNTIES OF SOUTHEAST GEORGIA. WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL BECOME MORE UNSTABLE AS THIS AFTERNOON PROGRESSES. THE COMBINATION OF VERY MOIST AIR AND AFTERNOON HEATING MAY CAUSE THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WHILE AT THE SAME TIME A COLD FRONT WILL BE APPROACHING THE COAST FROM THE WEST. SOUTHEAST GEORGIA RESIDENTS AND MARINE INTEREST ALONG THE GEORGIA COAST SHOULD MONTIOR THEIR RADIOS OR T.V. STATIONS FOR ANY WEATHER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS THAT MIGHT BE ISSUED THIS AFTERNOON. BASED ON AVAILABLE DATA...THE MOVEMENT OF ANY THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL PRODUCE WINDS OF AROUND 60 MPH OR GREATER AND DAMAGING HAIL WHICH IS 3/4 INCH OR GREATER. LIGHTNING BOLTS REACHING THE GROUND MAY ALSO ACCOMPANY ANY THUNDERSTORM."
Special weather statement, May 20, 5:31 PM EDT, 18 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAVANNAH GA 530 PM EDT TUE MAY 20 1986 AT 520 PM EDT WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING INTO STATESBORO, GEORGIA. THIS STORM DURING THE PAST HOUR MOVED THROUGH METTER WITH 1.20 INCHES OF RAIN IN 15 MINUTES AND BRIEF MARBLE SIZE HAIL. THE FIRE AND SHERIFFS DEPARTMENTS IN METTER ALSO REPORTED GUSTY WINDS THAT BLEW DOWN ONE TREE THAT DAMAGED A CAR AND SOME POWER LINES. PERSONS IN BULLOCH AND EFFINGHAM COUNTIES SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THIS THUNDERSTORM AS IT MOVES TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. BASED ON AVAILABLE DATA...THE MOVEMENT OF ANY THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL PRODUCE WINDS OF AROUND 60 MPH OR GREATER AND DAMAGING HAIL WHICH IS 3/4 INCH OR GREATER. LIGHTNING BOLTS REACHING THE GROUND MAY ALSO ACCOMPANY ANY THUNDERSTORM.
Special weather statement, May 20, 5:33 PM EDT, 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTION... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAVANNAH GA 530 PM EDT TUE MAY 20 1986 AT 520 PM EDT WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM MOVING INTO STATESBORO, GEORGIA. THIS STORM DURING THE PAST HOUR MOVED THROUGH METTER WITH 1.20 INCHES OF RAIN IN 15 MINUTES AND BRIEF MARBLE SIZE HAIL. THE FIRE AND SHERIFFS DEPARTMENTS IN METTER ALSO REPORTED GUSTY WINDS THAT BLEW DOWN ONE TREE THAT DAMAGED A CAR AND SOME POWER LINES. PERSONS IN BULLOCH AND EFFINGHAM COUNTIES SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THIS THUNDERSTORM AS IT MOVES TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Charleston, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 6:57 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CHS | Williamsburg | 63 min |
| May 20, 7:07 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CHS | Williamsburg | 63 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 1986Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1986
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.