Alert archive / South Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 1, NWS Columbia, SC

May 31, 1997Lexington County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this flash flood warning at May 31, 1997, 7:58 PM EDT for Lexington County, South Carolina. It was in force for 3 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 31, 1997, 7:58 PM EDT (23:58 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1997, 11:00 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Columbia, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Lexington County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 15 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:03 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 12:00Z, 12.0 hours before the alert went out and 162 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 1997-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 578 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 12:00Z on 1997-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 66 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
578 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-30 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
541 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
66 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
55 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCAE 312357
FFWCAE
SCC063-010300-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
758 PM EDT SAT MAY 31 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...NORTHEASTERN LEXINGTON COUNTY
 
LEXINGTON COUNTY EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS DIVISION REPORTED FLOODING IN
SECTIONS OF COLDSTREAM NEAR IRMO IN NORTHEAST LEXINGTON COUNTY AT
740 PM. WATER WAS RISING OUT OF YOST CREEK AND NEARING HOMES ACCORDING TCOOPERATIVE OBSERVERS. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL IS EXPECTED BETWEEN
800 PM AND 900 PM...WHICH SHOULD CAUSE FLOODING TO WORSEN.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROADWAY.  NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL
ONE...ON FOOT.  TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT EDT.
MPD/MC/HG

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 6:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELexington, Richland37 min
May 31, 6:32 PM EDTTornado WarningCAELexington, Richland28 min
May 31, 7:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELexington41 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in South Carolina, 1997Every flash flood warning in 1997

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.