Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 115, NWS Columbia, SC

September 24, 1997Orangeburg County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 24, 1997, 3:33 PM EDT for Orangeburg County, South Carolina. It was in force for 42 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
Sep 24, 1997, 3:33 PM EDT (19:33 UTC)
Expired
Sep 24, 1997, 4:15 PM EDT
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 19:33 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, 7.6 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 12:00Z on 1997-09-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1797 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 1997-09-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 31 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1797 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
545 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
95 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

527 
WUUS1 KCAE 241934 RRA
SVRCAE
SCC075-242015-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
333 PM EDT WED SEP 24 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  415 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...EASTERN ORANGEBURG COUNTY
 
AT 330 DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR THE
PROVIDENCE AREA IN EASTERN ORANGEBURG COUNTY MOVING EASTNORTHEAST
AT 15 MPH. THIS WILL TAKE THE STORM OVER PROVIDENCE TO THE
VANCE/SANTEE AREA BY 4 PM.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
THESE WINDS BLOW DOWN TREES...POWER LINES...AND SEVERELY DAMAGE
MOBILE HOMES.  FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR.  DONT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
 
RCC

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Sep 24, 11:30 AM EDT, 4 hours 3 minutes before
SCZ015-016-018-020-021-022-025-026-027-028-029-030-031-
035-036-037-038-041-GAZ040-063-064-065-077-242054-

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
1130 AM EDT WED SEP 24 1997

...AREAS OF SHOWERS WITH WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THIS
AFTERNOON...

A STATIONARY FRONT WILL BE THE FOCUS FOR NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND
WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON. EXTENSIVE CLOUD
COVER WILL LIMIT INSTABILITY ACROSS THE AREA KEEPING THUNDERSTORMS
WIDELY SCATTERED.

THE FRONT EXTENDED FROM NEAR SUMTER TO COLUMBIA TO LINCOLNTON
GEORGIA AT LATE MORNING. MOST OF THE SHOWERS AND WIDELY SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ALONG THIS LINE AND MOVE NORTHEAST
DURING THE AFTERNOON. ANOTHER AREA OF SHOWERS AND SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE NORTHEAST FROM BAMBERG TO MANNING. RAINFALL
OF AROUND 1/2 INCH CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THE HEAVIER SHOWERS OR
THUNDERSTORMS. THE WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP WILL
NOT HAVE MUCH LIGHTNING.

ELSEWHERE...SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP WILL BE MORE
RANDOM AND ISOLATED IN NATURE ALONG THE AREA FROM ORANGEBURG TO
AUGUSTA.

CURRENT DATA DOES NOT FAVOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT.
THEREFORE...EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND SPOTTER ACTIVATION SHOULD NOT
BE REQUIRED.

RCC
Special weather statement, Sep 24, 11:31 AM EDT, 4 hours 2 minutes before
SCZ015-016-018-020-021-022-025-026-027-028-029-030-031-
035-036-037-038-041-GAZ040-063-064-065-077-242054-

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
1130 AM EDT WED SEP 24 1997

...AREAS OF SHOWERS WITH WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THIS
AFTERNOON...

A STATIONARY FRONT WILL BE THE FOCUS FOR NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND
WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON. EXTENSIVE CLOUD
COVER WILL LIMIT INSTABILITY ACROSS THE AREA KEEPING THUNDERSTORMS
WIDELY SCATTERED.

THE FRONT EXTENDED FROM NEAR SUMTER TO COLUMBIA TO LINCOLNTON
GEORGIA AT LATE MORNING. MOST OF THE SHOWERS AND WIDELY SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ALONG THIS LINE AND MOVE NORTHEAST
DURING THE AFTERNOON. ANOTHER AREA OF SHOWERS AND SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE NORTHEAST FROM BAMBERG TO MANNING. RAINFALL
OF AROUND 1/2 INCH CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THE HEAVIER SHOWERS OR
THUNDERSTORMS. THE WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP WILL
NOT HAVE MUCH LIGHTNING.

ELSEWHERE...SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP WILL BE MORE
RANDOM AND ISOLATED IN NATURE ALONG THE AREA FROM ORANGEBURG TO
AUGUSTA.

CURRENT DATA DOES NOT FAVOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT.
THEREFORE...EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND SPOTTER ACTIVATION SHOULD NOT
BE REQUIRED.

RCC
Special weather statement, Sep 24, 3:00 PM EDT, 33 minutes before
SCZ015-016-018-020-021-022-025-026-027-028-029-030-031-
035-036-037-038-041-GAZ040-063-064-065-077-250040-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
300 PM EDT WED SEP 24 1997

...SOME POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING SOUTH AND EAST OF COLUMBIA...

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING BETWEEN AUGUSTA AND
ORANGEBURG TO MANNING ARE BEING MONITORED CLOSELY FOR SEVERE
WEATHER POTENTIAL. INSTABILITY HAS INCREASED IN THAT AREA. IN
ADDITION A FRONTAL BOUNDARY CONTINUES FROM NEAR ORANGEBURG TO
AUGUSTA. THIS IS CAUSING INCREASING CONVERGENCE OF LOW LEVEL WINDS.

THE MAIN CONCERN IS FOR ISOLATED SMALL TORNADOES IN THE AREA FROM
BARNWELL TO ORANGEBURG TO MANNING.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT IN THE COUNTIES OF BARNWELL...BAMBERG...
ORANGEBURG...AND CLARENDON COUNTIES SHOULD MONITOR THIS SITUATION.
SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BECOME NECESSARY IN THOSE COUNTIES.

RCC

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.