Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 41, NWS Columbia, SC

May 24, 1988Clarendon County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 24, 1988, 1:05 AM EDT for Clarendon County, South Carolina. It was in force for 55 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 24, 1988, 1:05 AM EDT (05:05 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 1988, 2:00 AM EDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Columbia, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Clarendon 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 24, 1:15 AM EDTHail 1.25Clarendon, 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 00:00Z, 5.1 hours before the alert went out and 88 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 00:00Z on 1988-05-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 597 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1988-05-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 93 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
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

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 23, 9:09 PM EDT, 3 hours 56 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, 3 hours 37 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.
Special weather statement, May 23, 11:01 PM EDT, 2 hours 4 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUGUSTA GA
1105 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 1055 PM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER
SOUTH CAROLINA FROM EAST OF CAMDEN IN KERSHAW COUNTY SOUTHWEST TO
EARHARDT IN BAMBERG COUNTY. THE STORMS ARE MOVING TO THE EAST AT
40 MPH.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..STRONG GUSTY
WINDS..VERY HEAVY RAINS AND POSSIBLE HAIL.
Special weather statement, May 24, 12:14 AM EDT, 51 minutes before
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The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 23, 8:11 PM EDTTornado WarningCAERichland64 min
May 23, 8:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEKershaw, Lancaster53 min
May 23, 9:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAERichland26 min
May 23, 9:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAECalhoun, Lexington51 min
May 23, 9:39 PM EDTTornado WarningCAECalhoun, Richland51 min
May 23, 10:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELee, Sumter40 min
May 23, 10:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAECalhoun, Clarendon62 min
May 23, 10:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEKershaw, Lee, Sumter67 min
May 23, 10:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEBamberg, Orangeburg67 min
May 23, 10:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEDarlington67 min
May 24, 12:03 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEDarlington57 min
May 24, 12:03 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEClarendon, Orangeburg57 min
May 24, 1:05 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEFlorence, Marlboro55 min
May 24, 2:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEYork66 min
May 24, 2:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEFairfield63 min
May 24, 3:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEChester65 min
May 24, 3:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELancaster57 min
May 24, 3:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAENewberry, Richland53 min
May 24, 4:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEFairfield60 min
May 24, 4:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEKershaw29 min
May 24, 6:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAECalhoun, Orangeburg51 min
May 24, 6:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEClarendon55 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.