Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Columbia, SC

January 2, 1996Aiken County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this tornado warning at Jan 2, 1996, 6:11 PM EST for Aiken County, South Carolina. It was in force for 34 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, 6:11 PM EST (23:11 UTC)
Expired
Jan 2, 1996, 6:45 PM EST
In force
34 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 23:11 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, 11.2 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 022312
TORCAE
SCC003-022345-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
611 PM EST TUE JAN 2 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...SOUTHERN AIKEN COUNTY
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM! SEEK SHELTER NOW!

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 2, 5:55 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEAiken50 min
Jan 2, 6:22 PM ESTTornado WarningCAEBarnwell53 min
Jan 2, 6:41 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEOrangeburg49 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Carolina, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes 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.