Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 47, NWS Columbia, SC

May 3, 1997Bamberg County, Barnwell County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 1997, 12:35 PM EDT for Bamberg County, Barnwell County, South Carolina. It was in force for 55 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: May 3, 1997, 12:35 PM EDT (16:35 UTC)
Expired: May 3, 1997, 1:30 PM EDT
In force: 55 min
Issued by: NWS Columbia, SC
Area: Whole counties

Counties Bamberg County, SC, Barnwell County, SC

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 68 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:36 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
May 3, 12:42 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 55	Kline, SC
May 3, 1:05 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Bamberg, 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
May 3, 8:30 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 122 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 637 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -72 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 880 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 115 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 150 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.2
Supercell composite: 2.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCAE 031632 RRA
SVRCAE
SCC009-011-031730-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
1235 PM EDT SAT MAY 3 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  130 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...BAMBERG COUNTY...BARNWELL COUNTY
 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATES SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ABOUT 3
MILES WEST OF BAMBERG AND ANOTHER NORTH OF KLINE IN BARNWELL COUNTY.
THESE STORMS ARE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
THESE WINDS B>LOW 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 3, 7:07 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Lancaster	38 min
May 3, 7:29 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Kershaw, Richland	46 min
May 3, 7:51 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Lexington, Richland	54 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 1997 Every 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.