Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 30, NWS Columbia, SC
NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 23, 1988, 8:52 PM EDT for Kershaw County, Lancaster County, South Carolina. It was in force for 53 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 23, 1988, 8:52 PM EDT (00:52 UTC)
- Expired
- May 23, 1988, 9:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 53 min
- Issued by
- NWS Columbia, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Kershaw County, SC, Lancaster 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 23, 8:55 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Lancaster, 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
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 187 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
- 946 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -10 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1953 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 78 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 107 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.9
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 23, 5:23 PM EDT, 3 hours 29 minutes before
BULLETIN SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA, SC 522 PM EDT MON MAY 23 1988 ...WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP ACROSS THE LOWER PIEDMONT OF SOUTH CAROLINA... AT 518 PM EDT RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL OVER THE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF SALUDA COUNTY AND SOUTHERN NEWBERRY COUNTY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAT AT ABOUT 40 MPH. PEOPLE ACROSS THE LOWER PIEDMONT...PARTICULARLY SALUDA...NEWBERRY ... AND FAIRFIELD COUNTY SHOULD BE ALERT FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS FOR THUNDERSTORMS CONTAINING VERY HEAVY RAIN...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL. KANUPP
Special weather statement, May 23, 6:42 PM EDT, 2 hours 10 minutes before
BULLETIN SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA, SC 640 PM EDT MON MAY 23 1988 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 166 REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OF SOUTH CAROLINA UNTIL MIDNIGHT... ACROSS CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA AT 635 PM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS OVER NEWEBERRY.. SALUDA.. WESTERN LEXINGTON AND WESTERN CHESTER COUNTIES. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAINS AND POSSIBLE HAIL WERE LOCATED OVER WESTERN LEXINGTON COUNTY AND WESTERN CHESTER COUNTY. ALL OF THESE STORMS WERE MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. PEOPLE ACROSS THE MIDLANDS OF SOUTH CAROLINA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR POSSIBLE SEVERE WEATHER AS THESE THUNDERSTORM MOVE ACROSS SOUTH CAROLINA. IF THREATENING WEATHER IS OVSERVED OR A WARNING IS ISSUED FOR YOUR AREA TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. KANUPP
The office that day
Everything else NWS Columbia, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 23, 8:11 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Richland | 64 min |
| May 23, 9:04 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Richland | 26 min |
| May 23, 9:09 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Calhoun, Lexington | 51 min |
| May 23, 9:39 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Calhoun, Richland | 51 min |
| May 23, 10:05 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Lee, Sumter | 40 min |
| May 23, 10:28 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Calhoun, Clarendon | 62 min |
| May 23, 10:53 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Kershaw, Lee, Sumter | 67 min |
| May 23, 10:53 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Bamberg, Orangeburg | 67 min |
| May 23, 10:53 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Darlington | 67 min |
| May 24, 12:03 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Darlington | 57 min |
| May 24, 12:03 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Clarendon, Orangeburg | 57 min |
| May 24, 1:05 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Florence, Marlboro | 55 min |
| May 24, 1:05 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Clarendon | 55 min |
| May 24, 2:54 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | York | 66 min |
| May 24, 2:57 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Fairfield | 63 min |
| May 24, 3:25 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Chester | 65 min |
| May 24, 3:33 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Lancaster | 57 min |
| May 24, 3:37 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Newberry, Richland | 53 min |
| May 24, 4:00 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Fairfield | 60 min |
| May 24, 4:31 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Kershaw | 29 min |
| May 24, 6:24 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Calhoun, Orangeburg | 51 min |
| May 24, 6:35 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Clarendon | 55 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 1988Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1988
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.