Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 60, NWS Columbia, SC

May 7, 1996Calhoun County, Lexington County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 7, 1996, 8:33 PM EDT for Calhoun County, Lexington County, South Carolina. It was in force for 42 min. 2 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: May 7, 1996, 8:33 PM EDT (00:33 UTC)
Expired: May 7, 1996, 9:15 PM EDT
In force: 42 min
Issued by: NWS Columbia, SC
Area: Whole counties

Counties Calhoun County, SC, Lexington County, SC

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 7, 8:49 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Swansea, SC
May 7, 8:52 PM EDT	Hail 1.75	Sandy Run, 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 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 137 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 321 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -114 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 749 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 51 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 85 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 KCAE 080033
SVRCAE
SCC017-063-080115-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
833 PM EDT TUE MAY 7 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  915 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...WESTERN CALHOUN COUNTY...EASTERN LEXINGTON COUNTY
 
WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM BETWEEN
SWANSEA AND I-26 IN SOUTHEAST LEXINGTON COUNTY AT 830 PM. THIS STORM
WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH AND WILL BE IN THE VICINITY OF SANDY RUN
BY 9 PM.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU ARE IN
ITS PATH. INTENSE SETVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN CAUSE AS MUCH DAMAGE
AS SOME TORNADOES.
 
TTH

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

Local storm report, May 7, 5:34 PM EDT, 2 hours 59 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
534 PM EDT TUE MAY 07 1996

TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....
422 PM     APPLING                   GA   1.75 INCH HAIL.
05/07/96   COLUMBIA                       COLUMBIA COUNTY EPD
                                          REPORTS GOLF BALL SIZE
                                          HAIL IN APPLING.

438 PM     APPLING                   GA   0.75 INCH HAIL
05/07/96   COLUMBIA                       COLUMBIA COUNTY SHERIFF
                                          REPORTS DIME SIZE HAIL
                                          NEAR AND EAST OF  APPLING.

CTC

Local storm report, May 7, 8:23 PM EDT, 10 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
823 PM EDT TUE MAY 07 1996

TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....
748 PM     RIDGE SPRING              SC   1.00 INCH HAIL
05/07/96   SALUDA                         SALUDA COUNTY SHERIFF
                                          REPORTS QUARTER SIZE HAIL
                                          AND POSSIBLE     FUNNEL
                                          CLOUDS IN THE RIDGE SPRING
                                          AREA.

755 PM     JOHNSTON                  SC   0.75 INCH HAIL
05/07/96   EDGEFIELD                      SPOTTER REPORTS DIME-SIZE
                                          HAIL NEAR JOHNSTON.

808 PM     NORWAY                    SC   WIND DAMAGE
05/07/96   ORANGEBURG                     TREES DOWN ON VEHICLE NEAR
                                          NORWAY...REPORTED BY
                                          ORANGEBURG COUNTYSHERIFF.

812 PM     EDGEFIELD                 SC   2.75 INCH HAIL
05/07/96   EDGEFIELD                      EDGEFIELD COUNTY SHERIFF
                                          REPORTS BASEBALLL SIZE HAIL
                                          JUST WEST OF THE CITY OF
                                          EDGEFIELD.

CTC

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 7, 8:03 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CAE	Edgefield	42 min
May 7, 8:47 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Richland	58 min
May 7, 9:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Kershaw, Sumter	41 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 1996 Every 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.