Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 1, NWS Columbia, SC

January 24, 1997Aiken County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 24, 1997, 3:15 PM EST for Aiken County, South Carolina. It was in force for 45 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 24, 1997, 3:15 PM EST (20:15 UTC)
Expired
Jan 24, 1997, 4:00 PM EST
In force
45 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 20:17 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 24, 3:22 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 50Aiken, SC
Jan 24, 3:50 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, 8.3 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 1997-01-24Temperature 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 1997-01-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 128 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
1085 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
128 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
158 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 242015 RRA
SVRCAE
SCC003-242100-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
315 PM EST FRI JAN 24 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...AIKEN COUNTY
 
AT 310 PM EST NWS DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 7 MILES
WEST OF NEW ELLENTON. THIS STORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH. THIS
STORM WILL PASS NEAR OR JUST TO THE SOUTH OF AIKEN AROUND 330 PM.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
THESE WINDS BLO2W DOWN TREES...POWER LINES...AND SEVERELY DAMAGE
MOBILE HOMES.  FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR.  DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 24, 3:50 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAERichland40 min
Jan 24, 4:04 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELexington26 min
Jan 24, 4:12 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAECalhoun48 min
Jan 24, 4:28 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEOrangeburg32 min
Jan 24, 4:34 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAERichland26 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 1997Every severe thunderstorm 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.