Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Columbia, SC

January 2, 1996Aiken County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 2, 1996, 5:55 PM EST for Aiken 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
Jan 2, 1996, 5:55 PM EST (22:55 UTC)
Expired
Jan 2, 1996, 6:45 PM EST
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Columbia, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Aiken County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 66 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:56 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jan 2, 6:30 PM ESTHail 0.75Jackson, SC
Jan 2, 6:35 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 50Aiken, SC
Jan 2, 6:40 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 50Aiken, 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 168 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 1996-01-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1996-01-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 287 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
737 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
69 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
287 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
321 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCAE 022255 RRA
SVRCAE
SCC003-022345-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
555 PM EST TUE JAN 2 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...SOUTHERN AIKEN COUNTY
 
AT 553 PM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CROSSING THE
SAVANNAH RIVER INTO AIKEN COUNTY. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT
40 MPH AND HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING STRONG WINDS AND DIME SIZE HAIL.
 
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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 2, 6:11 PM ESTTornado WarningCAEAiken34 min
Jan 2, 6:22 PM ESTTornado WarningCAEBarnwell53 min
Jan 2, 6:41 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEOrangeburg49 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1996

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.