Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Charleston, SC

May 20, 1986Williamsburg County, South Carolina

NWS Charleston, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 20, 1986, 7:07 PM EDT for Williamsburg County, South Carolina. It was in force for 63 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 20, 1986, 7:07 PM EDT (23:07 UTC)
Expired
May 20, 1986, 8:10 PM EDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Williamsburg County, SC

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 84 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 1986-05-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 984 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1986-05-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 89 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, 5:31 PM EDT, 1 hour 36 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, 1 hour 34 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.
Special weather statement, May 20, 6:30 PM EDT, 37 minutes before
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The office that day

Everything else NWS Charleston, SC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 20, 5:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSBerkeley, Dorchester61 min
May 20, 6:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSWilliamsburg63 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.