Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 74, NWS Atlanta, GA

May 23, 1988Aiken County, South Carolina

NWS Atlanta, GA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 23, 1988, 8:42 PM EDT for Aiken County, South Carolina. It was in force for 48 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 23, 1988, 8:42 PM EDT (00:42 UTC)
Expired
May 23, 1988, 9:30 PM EDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Atlanta, GA
Area
Whole counties

County Aiken 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 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 160 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 00:00Z on 1988-05-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3 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 00:00Z on 1988-05-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 86 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
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-68 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2562 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
86 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
39 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KAGS 240044
SVRAGS
SCC003-240130-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUGUSTA GA
842 PM EDT MON MAY 23 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUGUSTA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  930 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA
          ...NORTHEASTERN AIKEN
 
AT 840 PM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHEAST
AIKEN COUNTY SOUTH CAROLINA. THIS STORM WAS JUST SOUTHWEST OF PERRY
AND MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSDSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

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, 8:21 PM EDT, 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS GA
820 PM EDT MON MAY 23 1988

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 166 REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL
   MIDNIGHT EDT FOR PARTS OF SOUTH AND EAST GEORGIA...SOUTH AND NORTH
   CAROLINA...

AT 816 PM EDT WEATHER RADARS NO LONGER INDICATED ANY RAIN OR
THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHWEST GEORGIA.  HOWEVER...SEVERAL VERY STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED FARTHER EAST...GENERALLY IN AN AREA FROM
FITZGERALD TO SAVANNAH.  MOVEMENT WAS STILL NORTHEAST.

CONDITIONS REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA UNTIL MIDNIGHT.  PLEASE CONTINUE TO
LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER LOCAL TV AND RADIO STATION'S
FOR FURTHER UPDATES.
Special weather statement, May 23, 8:39 PM EDT, 3 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS GA
820 PM EDT MON MAY 23 1988

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 166 HAS BEEN CANCELLED AS OF
   825 PM EDT...

AT 823 PM COLUMBUS WE?ATHER RADAR NO LONGER INDICATED ANY RAIN OR
THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL GEORGIA...AND
CONDITIONS NO LONGER APPEAR FAVORABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN THOSE AREAS THIS EVENING.
Special weather statement, May 23, 8:40 PM EDT, 2 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTED FOR TIME
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBUS GA
839 PM EDT MON MAY 23 1988

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 166 HAS BEEN CANCELLED AS OF
   825 PM EDT...

@AT 835 PM COLUMBUS WEATHER RADAR NO LONGER INDICATED ANY RAIN OR
THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH CENTRAL GEORGIA...AND
CONDITIONS NO LONGER APPEAR FAVORABLE FOR DEVELOPMENT OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN THOSE AREAS THIS EVENING.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Atlanta, GA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 5:08 PM EDTTornado WarningFFCAiken52 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.