Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Columbia, SC

March 16, 1996Lee County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this tornado warning at Mar 16, 1996, 10:47 PM EST for Lee County, South Carolina. It was in force for 43 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 16, 1996, 10:47 PM EST (03:47 UTC)
Expired
Mar 16, 1996, 11:30 PM EST
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Columbia, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Lee County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:47 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 00:00Z, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 142 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 1996-03-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 615 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 1996-03-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 244 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
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 170347
TORCAE
SCC061-170430-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
1047 PM EST SAT MAR 16 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1130 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...NORTHERN LEE COUNTY
 
AT 1042 PM RADAR WAS INDICATING A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR BETHUNE AND WILL
MOVE INTO LEE COUNTY BY 11 PM. THIS STORM IS MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM! SEEK SHELTER NOW!
 
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.
 
CDL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 16, 10:13 PM ESTTornado WarningCAEFairfield, Kershaw47 min
Mar 16, 11:04 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEKershaw41 min
Mar 17, 7:25 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEAiken50 min
Mar 17, 7:59 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEOrangeburg46 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.