Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1994
Tornado Warning 4, NWS Columbia, SC
NWS Columbia, SC issued this tornado warning at Aug 16, 1994, 12:55 PM EDT for Lexington County, Orangeburg County, South Carolina. It was in force for 50 min. 3 reports 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
- Aug 16, 1994, 12:55 PM EDT (16:55 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 16, 1994, 1:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 50 min
- Issued by
- NWS Columbia, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Lexington County, SC, Orangeburg County, SC
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 16, 1:16 PM EDT | Tornado F0 | Lexington, SC | Tornado observed as it touched down and damaged trees and home in southeast Edmund. It lifted and moved across Edmund Fire Station, then touched down and damaged pine forest immediately north of Edmund. |
| Aug 16, 1:27 PM EDT | Tornado F2 | Of Lexington, SC | Tornado demolished the north portion of a mini-warehouse complex near the SC602 and SC6 intersection. It moved northward and overturned three cars in Redbank, blew down trees and power lines. |
| Aug 16, 1:53 PM EDT | Tornado F0 | Columbia, SC | Tornado funnel cloud observed by FAA Control Tower and National Weather Service personnel at the Columbia Airport. The tornado touched down briefly in a wooded area 3 miles southwest of the Airport destroying a small area of timber and then moved to 3 miles n |
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 12:00Z, 4.9 hours before the alert went out and 129 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
- 537 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -55 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 957 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 15 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 131 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 172 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCAE 161659 TORCAE SCC063-075-161745- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 1255 PM EDT TUE AUG 16 1994 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 145 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN SOUTH CAROLINA ...LEXINGTON COUNTY...WESTERN ORANGEBURG COUNTY... AT 1255 PM EDT...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR PELION. MOVEMENT WAS NORTH-NORTHWEST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR. ANOTHER SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER WESTERN ORANGEBURG COUNTY NEAR NEESES ALSO INDICATED POSSIBLE TORNADO CHARACTERISTICS. MOVEMENT OF THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS ALSO NORTH-NORTHWEST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR. DO NOT STAY IN A CAR OR MOBILE HOME DURING A TORNADO. CARS AND MOBILE HOMES ARE EASILY TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR OR MOBILE HOME AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT. R. JONES
The office that day
Everything else NWS Columbia, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 16, 11:53 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Orangeburg | 37 min |
| Aug 16, 12:23 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Orangeburg | 37 min |
| Aug 16, 12:32 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Lexington | 28 min |
| Aug 16, 1:37 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Richland | 38 min |
| Aug 16, 1:50 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Lexington | 25 min |
| Aug 16, 2:09 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Newberry, Richland | 36 min |
| Aug 16, 2:13 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Lexington | 47 min |
| Aug 16, 2:17 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Fairfield | 43 min |
| Aug 16, 2:54 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Newberry | 51 min |
| Aug 16, 3:00 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Kershaw | 45 min |
| Aug 16, 3:11 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Lexington | 49 min |
| Aug 16, 3:24 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Chester | 51 min |
| Aug 16, 3:44 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Newberry | 46 min |
| Aug 16, 4:13 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Fairfield | 47 min |
| Aug 16, 4:17 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | York | 43 min |
| Aug 16, 5:40 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Fairfield | 50 min |
| Aug 16, 5:51 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | York | 54 min |
| Aug 16, 6:11 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Lexington | 34 min |
| Aug 16, 6:49 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Chester | 26 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in South Carolina, 1994Every tornado warning in 1994Tornadoes in 1994
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.