Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 18, NWS Columbia, SC

April 22, 1997Fairfield County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 22, 1997, 4:47 PM EDT for Fairfield County, South Carolina. It was in force for 43 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
Apr 22, 1997, 4:47 PM EDT (20:47 UTC)
Expired
Apr 22, 1997, 5:30 PM EDT
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Columbia, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Fairfield County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 50 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:49 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
Apr 22, 4:56 PM EDTHail 0.75Jenkinsville, SC
Apr 22, 5:15 PM EDTHail 1.75Winnsboro, 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, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 196 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 1997-04-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 935 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 1997-04-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 140 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
935 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-36 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
555 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
140 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
119 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
3.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCAE 222046 RRA
SVRCAE
SCC039-222130-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
447 PM EDT TUE APR 22 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...FAIRFIELD COUNTY
 
AT 443 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM JUST WEST OF JENKINSVILLE MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.
THIS STORM WILL MOVE THROUGH THE CITY OF WINNSBORO AROUND 515 PM. LARGE
HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS ARE EXPECTED.
 
 
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.  DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
 
AWP
 
,

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 21, 8:26 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEBarnwell39 min
Apr 22, 5:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEChesterfield, Kershaw, Lancaster57 min
Apr 22, 6:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEAiken38 min
Apr 22, 7:16 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEMcCormick14 min
Apr 22, 7:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEEdgefield39 min
Apr 22, 7:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAESaluda68 min
Apr 22, 7:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELexington62 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.