Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Columbia, SC

February 21, 1989Bamberg County, Orangeburg County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 21, 1989, 10:09 AM EST for Bamberg County, Orangeburg County, South Carolina. It was in force for 66 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Feb 21, 1989, 10:09 AM EST (15:09 UTC)
Expired
Feb 21, 1989, 11:15 AM EST
In force
66 min
Issued by
NWS Columbia, SC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Bamberg County, SC, Orangeburg 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 12:00Z, 3.2 hours before the alert went out and 99 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 12:00Z on 1989-02-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 701 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 12:00Z on 1989-02-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 185 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
701 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
648 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
185 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
246 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
4.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCAE 211511
SVRCAE
SCC009-075-211615-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
1009 AM EST TUE FEB 21 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1115 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
          ...BAMBERG...ORANGEBURG
 
 
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER
COVERS THE ROAD.

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, Feb 21, 7:26 AM EST, 2 hours 43 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUGUSTA GA
725AM EST TUE FEB 21 1989

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR HANCOCK...WASHINGTON...
JOHNSON...AND EMANUEL COUNTIES UNTIL 11 AM THIS MORNING...

AT 720 AM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS EMBEDDED
IN LIGHT RAIN OVER MUCH OF THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA. THE STRONGEST
THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTH CAROLINA WERE NEAR EDGEFIELD. A LEADING EDGE OF A
LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDS FROM NEAR LAKE GREENWOOD IN SOUTH
CAROLINA SOUTHWEST ACROSS THURMOND LAKE INTO CENTRAL GEORGIA SOUTH OF MACON.
STRONG GUSTY WINDS, BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND DANGEROUS
CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS POSSIBLE AS THIS LINE MOVES EAST AT 35 MPH.
Special weather statement, Feb 21, 8:32 AM EST, 1 hour 37 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUGUSTA GA
830AM EST TUE FEB 21 1989

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR HANCOCK...WASHINGTON...
JOHNSON...AND EMANUEL COUNTIES UNTIL 11 AM THIS MORNING...

AT 820 AM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS EMBEDDED
IN LIGHT RAIN OVER MUCH OF THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA.

THE LEADING EDGE OF LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDS FROM THE WESTERN REACHES
OF LAKE MURRAY IN SOUTH CAROLINA SOUTHWEST INTO GEORGIA NEAR AUGUSTA INTO
CENTRAL GEORGIA.  STRONG GUSTY WINDS, BRIEF GUSTY WINDS, LIGHTNING AND HAIL
MAY ACCOMPANY THIS LINE AS IT MOVES EASTWARD AT 35 MPH. A STRONG THUNDERSTORM
IS LOCATED SOUTHWEST OF MILLEN GEORGIA IN SOUTHWEST JENKINS COUNTY. THIS
STORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST 35 MPH.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS.
Special weather statement, Feb 21, 8:35 AM EST, 1 hour 34 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUGUSTA GA
830AM EST TUE FEB 21 1989

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR HANCOCK...WASHINGTON...
JOHNSON...AND EMANUEL COUNTIES UNTIL 11 AM THIS MORNING...

AT 820 AM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS EMBEDDED
IN LIGHT RAIN OVER MUCH OF THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA.

THE LEADING EDGE OF A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDS FROM THE WESTERN REACHES
OF LAKE MURRAY IN SOUTH CAROLINA SOUTHWEST INTO GEORGIA NEAR AUGUSTA INTO
CENTRAL GEORGIA.  STRONG BRIEF GUSTY WINDS, LIGHTNING AND HAIL
MAY ACCOMPANY THIS LINE AS IT MOVES EASTWARD AT 35 MPH. A STRONG THUNDERSTORM
IS LOCATED SOUTHWEST OF MILLEN GEORGIA IN SOUTHWEST JENKINS COUNTY. THIS
STORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST 35 MPH.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS.
Special weather statement, Feb 21, 8:54 AM EST, 1 hour 15 minutes before
BULLETIN
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA, SC
846 AM EST TUE FEB 21 1989

...HEAVY SHOWERS AND A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS RUMBLING THROUGH
   THE MIDLANDS OF SOUTH CAROLINA...

AT 845AM EST THIS TUESDAY MORNING A LINE OF HEAVY SHOWERS WITH
A FEW THUNDERSTORMS EMBEDDED IN THE LINE WAS DETECTED BY RADAR
MOVING THROUGH THE MIDLANDS OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

THE LINE EXTENDED FROM JUST SOUTH OF CHARLOTTE NORTH CAROLINA
TO JUST WEST OF COLUMBIA SOUTH CAROLINA TO THE AUGUSTA GEORGIA
AREA.

THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IN THIS LINE IS IN AIKEN COUNTY
JUST NORTHWEST OF WILLISTON WITH ADDITIONAL HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS IN
THE COLUMBIA AREA.

THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST ABOUT 30 MILES AN HOUR AND MAY BE
ACCOMPANIED BY VERY STRONG GUSTY WINDS..SMALL HAIL AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING ALONG WITH HEAVY DOWNPOURS.

ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED AS CONDITIONS WARRANT.

THORPE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 21, 8:59 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELexington, Richland61 min
Feb 21, 9:46 AM ESTTornado WarningCAEChesterfield59 min
Feb 21, 10:24 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAESumter66 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 1989Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1989

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.