Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 12, NWS Columbia, SC
NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 21, 1997, 6:24 PM EST for Kershaw County, South Carolina. It was in force for 66 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
- Feb 21, 1997, 6:24 PM EST (23:24 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 21, 1997, 7:30 PM EST
- In force
- 66 min
- Issued by
- NWS Columbia, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Kershaw County, SC
The radar
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 65 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:24 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 | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 6:32 PM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Lugoff, SC | |
| Feb 21, 6:40 PM EST | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | 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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 5:00 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 169 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 76 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -19 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 477 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 37 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 136 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 145 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
989 WUUS1 KCAE 212326 RRA SVRCAE SCC055-220030- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 624 PM EST FRI FEB 21 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH CAROLINA ...KERSHAW COUNTY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING EASTWARD THROUGH THE COUNTY AT ABOUT 45 MPH. THESE STORMS HAVE ALREADY CAUSED WIND DAMAGE IN WESTERN AND CENTRAL PARTS OF THE STATE. 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. &
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
Local storm report, Feb 21, 5:49 PM EST, 35 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
549 PM EST FRI FEB 21 1997
TIME (EST) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST ...EVENT/REMARKS...
.....COUNTY LOCATION.....
515 PM NEWBERRY SC WIND DAMAGE
02/21/97 NEWBERRY NEWBERRY COUNTY SHERIFF
REPORTS POWER LINES AND
TREE LIMBS DOWN IN THE
CITY OF NEWBERRY.
530 PM EDGEFIELD SC WIND DAMAGE
02/21/97 EDGEFIELD EDGEFIELD COUNTY SHERIFF
REPORTS TREES DOWN ON
LANHAM ROAD IN
EDGEFIELD.
CTCLocal storm report, Feb 21, 6:21 PM EST, 3 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
621 PM EST FRI FEB 21 1997
TIME (EST) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST ...EVENT/REMARKS...
.....COUNTY LOCATION.....
600 PM 5 S WINNSBORO SC WIND DAMAGE
02/21/97 FAIRFIELD FAIRFIELD COUNTY SHERIFFS
REPORTS TREES AND LARGE
LIMBS DOWN ON HWY 63
SOUTH OF WINNSBORO.
605 PM 5 N LANCASTER SC WIND DAMAGE
02/21/97 LANCASTER LANCASTER COUNTY SHERIFF
REPORTS TREES DOWN ON
HOUSE AND POWER LINES
DOWN IN NORTHERN LANCASTER
COUNTY.
CTCThe office that day
Everything else NWS Columbia, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 5:20 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Newberry | 55 min |
| Feb 21, 5:24 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Edgefield, Saluda | 66 min |
| Feb 21, 5:24 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Fairfield | 66 min |
| Feb 21, 5:38 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Lexington, Richland | 67 min |
| Feb 21, 5:55 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Lancaster | 65 min |
| Feb 21, 6:40 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Lee, Sumter | 65 min |
| Feb 21, 6:40 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Chesterfield | 65 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.