Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Columbia, SC

January 2, 1996Orangeburg County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this tornado warning at Jan 2, 1996, 7:03 PM EST for Orangeburg 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
Jan 2, 1996, 7:03 PM EST (00:03 UTC)
Expired
Jan 2, 1996, 7:45 PM EST
In force
42 min
Issued by
NWS Columbia, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Orangeburg County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 64 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:02 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, 7:10 PM ESTTornado F0Orangeburg, SC
Jan 2, 7:20 PM ESTTornado F0Orangeburg, 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, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 96 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 00:00Z on 1996-01-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 92 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 00:00Z on 1996-01-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 133 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
92 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-184 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
818 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
84 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
133 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
162 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCAE 030004
TORCAE
SCC075-030045-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
703 PM EST TUE JAN 2 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...ORANGEBURG COUNTY
 
AT 703 PM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO APPROACHING THE
CITY OF ORANGEBURG. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST NEAR 40 MPH.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT
AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.  BE ALERT FOR FLOODING OF
LOW AREAS.  TORNADOES IN THIS AREA ARE H@ARD TO SEE BECAUSE OF RAIN
...LOW CLOUDS...AND TREES.
 
 
END

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.