Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Charleston, SC

June 26, 1987Berkeley County, South Carolina

NWS Charleston, SC issued this tornado warning at Jun 26, 1987, 4:14 PM EDT for Berkeley County, South Carolina. It was in force for 31 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 26, 1987, 4:14 PM EDT (20:14 UTC)
Expired
Jun 26, 1987, 4:45 PM EDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Berkeley 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, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 33 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 1987-06-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 842 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1987-06-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 58 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
842 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-22 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
694 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
58 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
61 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.

000 
TTAA00 KCHS 262014
TORCHS
SCC015-262045-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
414 PM EDT FRI JUN 26 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  445 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
          ...SOUTHEASTERN BERKELEY
 
THE CHARLESTON WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR
THE CITY OF GOOSE CREEK MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 15 TO 20 MILES
AN HOUR.
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF
A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

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.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 26, 3:42 PM EDT, 32 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON, SC
336 PM EDT FRI JUN 26 1987

...THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE MOVING ALONG THE COAST AND COASTAL WATERS
OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND EASTERN GEORGIA.

AT 3.30 PM...A LINE OF HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE FROM SOUTH OF SAVANNAH
NORTHEAST ALONG THE COAST TO NORTH MYRTLE BEACH.  THE HEAVIEST STORMS
WERE OVER THE COASTAL WATERS JUST SOUTH OF MYRTLE BEACH.
A FEW SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERS WERE OVER THE MIDLANDS OF
SOUTH CAROLINA AND INTO NORTH CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA.

SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WIND
...HAIL AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING AS THEY MOVE THROUGH THE COASTAL
COUNTIES THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

ALL PRECIPITATION WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

FGM

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Carolina, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes in 1987

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.