Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 43, NWS Columbia, SC

May 24, 1988Fairfield County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 24, 1988, 2:57 PM EDT for Fairfield County, South Carolina. It was in force for 63 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 24, 1988, 2:57 PM EDT (18:57 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 1988, 4:00 PM EDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Columbia, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Fairfield 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

Athens Municipal, GA (KAHN), launched 12:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 206 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, Athens Municipal, GA at 12:00Z on 1988-05-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 426 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, Athens Municipal, GA at 12:00Z on 1988-05-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 99 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
426 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-46 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
828 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
99 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
186 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

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 24, 12:37 PM EDT, 2 hours 20 minutes before
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Special weather statement, May 24, 2:19 PM EDT, 38 minutes before
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Special weather statement, May 24, 2:22 PM EDT, 35 minutes before
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Special weather statement, May 24, 2:41 PM EDT, 16 minutes before
BULLETIN
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA, SC
240 PM EDT TUE MAY 24 1988

...A TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OF SOUTH
   CAROLINA UNTIL 8 PM EDT...

A LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM THE CHARLOTTE
NORTH CAROLINA AREA SOUTHWESTWARD TO MCCORMICK COUNTY JUST NORTH
LAKE THURMOND.  THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST
ABOUT 40 MPH.

A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM ALONG THE UNION BORDER IS EXPECTED TO MOVE
THROUGH THE TOWN OF YORK AROUND 300 PM EDT.

THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THIS LINE ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN
GUSTY SURFACE WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND HAIL.

PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS IN YORK AND CHESTER COUNTIES
SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION IF THE
WEATHER BECOMES UNUSUALLY THREATENING.
BROWN

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, 1:05 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEClarendon55 min
May 24, 2:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEYork66 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.