Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 37, NWS Columbia, SC
NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 23, 1988, 10:53 PM EDT for Darlington County, South Carolina. It was in force for 67 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 23, 1988, 10:53 PM EDT (02:53 UTC)
- Expired
- May 24, 1988, 12:00 AM EDT
- In force
- 67 min
- Issued by
- NWS Columbia, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Darlington 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 00:00Z, 2.9 hours before the alert went out and 159 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
- 597 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -201 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1392 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 40 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 93 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 129 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.4
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, 5 hours 30 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, 4 hours 11 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
Special weather statement, May 23, 9:09 PM EDT, 1 hour 44 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUGUSTA GA 905 PM EDT MON MAY 23 1988 ..A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTIES OF AIKEN..BARNWELL AND ALLENDALE.. AT 855 PM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER THE SOUTH CAROLINA MIDLANDS FROM EAST OF COLUMBIA TO NORTHERN ORGANGEBURG COUNTY. OTHER VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER GEORGIA IN JENKINS AND SCREVEN COUNTIES. THESE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PROaDUCE DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..STRONG GUSTY WINDS..VERY HEAVY RAINS AND POSSIBLE HAIL. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.
Special weather statement, May 23, 9:28 PM EDT, 1 hour 25 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...COR FOR EXPIRATION TIME... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUGUSTA GA 905 PM EDT MON MAY 23 1988 ..A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE SOUTH CAROLINA COUNTIES OF AIKEN..BARNWELL AND ALLENDALE UNTIL 1 AM.. AT 855 PM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER THE SOUTH CAROLINA MIDLANDS FROM EAST OF COLUMBIA TO NORTHERN ORGANGEBURG COUNTY. OTHER VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER GEORGIA IN JENKINS AND SCRE}VEN COUNTIES. THESE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..STRONG GUSTY WINDS..VERY HEAVY RAINS AND POSSIBLE HAIL. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.
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, 8:52 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Kershaw, Lancaster | 53 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 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.