Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Columbia, SC

March 16, 1996Fairfield County, Kershaw County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this tornado warning at Mar 16, 1996, 10:13 PM EST for Fairfield County, Kershaw County, South Carolina. It was in force for 47 min. 4 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: Mar 16, 1996, 10:13 PM EST (03:13 UTC)
Expired: Mar 16, 1996, 11:00 PM EST
In force: 47 min
Issued by: NWS Columbia, SC
Area: Whole counties

Counties Fairfield County, SC, Kershaw County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 52 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:16 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

Time	Report	Where
Mar 16, 10:17 PM EST	Tornado F0	Ridgeway, SC
Mar 16, 10:26 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Longtown, SC
Mar 16, 10:36 PM EST	Hail 1.75	Camden, SC
Mar 16, 10:38 PM EST	Tornado F0	Camden, 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, 3.2 hours before the alert went out and 181 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: 615 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -78 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1054 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 244 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 308 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.6
Supercell composite: 7.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCAE 170314
TORCAE
SCC039-055-170400-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
1013 PM EST SAT MAR 16 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...FAIRFIELD COUNTY...KERSHAW COUNTY
 
AT 1010 PM RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO SOUTH OF WINNSBORO AND NORTHEAST OF
RIDGEWAY. THE TORNADOS WERE MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW
GROUND IF AVAILABLE.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY
FURNITURE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...OR CUSHIONS TO COVER
YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 16, 10:47 PM EST	Tornado Warning	CAE	Lee	43 min
Mar 16, 11:04 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Kershaw	41 min
Mar 17, 7:25 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Aiken	50 min
Mar 17, 7:59 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Orangeburg	46 min

Nearby

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