Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 19, NWS Columbia, SC

April 22, 1997Chesterfield County, Kershaw County, Lancaster County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 22, 1997, 5:33 PM EDT for Chesterfield County, Kershaw County, Lancaster County, South Carolina. It was in force for 57 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, 5:33 PM EDT (21:33 UTC)
Expired
Apr 22, 1997, 6:30 PM EDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Columbia, SC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Chesterfield County, SC, Kershaw County, SC, Lancaster County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 89 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:34 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, 5:47 PM EDTHail 0.75Heath Springs, SC
Apr 22, 6:00 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 70Bethune, 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 178 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1997-04-22Temperature 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1997-04-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 156 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
478 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
156 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
231 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 222131
SVRCAE
SCC025-055-057-222230-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
533 PM EDT TUE APR 22 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...CHESTERFIELD COUNTY...KERSHAW COUNTY...LANCASTER COUNTY
 
AT 530 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A CLUSTER OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER CHESTER...SOUTHERN LANCASTER...EASTERN
FAIRFIELD...AND EASTERN KERSHAW COUNTIES. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING
EAST-NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH AND HAVE A HISTORY OF PRODUCING GOLF BALL SIZE
HAIL.
 
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 FJLOOR.  DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
 
AWP

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, Apr 22, 5:00 PM EDT, 33 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
500 PM EDT TUE APR 22 1997

TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

455 PM:     JENKINSVILLE              SC   .75 INCH HAIL
04/22/97   FAIRFIELD                      SPOTTER REPORT

TTH
Local storm report, Apr 22, 5:17 PM EDT, 16 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
517 PM EDT TUE APR 22 1997

TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

510 PM     WINNSBORO                 SC   .75 INCH HAIL
04/22/97   FAIRFIELD                      SPOTTER #266 TONY HILL

510 PM     WINNSBORO                 SC   1.50 INCH HAIL
04/22/97   FAIRFIELD                      911 OPERATOR

515 PM     WINNSBFORO                 SC   1.75 INCH HAIL
04/22/97   FAIRFIELD                      POST OFFICE

HG

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, 4:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEFairfield43 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.