Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 49, NWS Columbia, SC
NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 9, 1997, 6:20 PM EDT for Sumter County, South Carolina. It was in force for 25 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
- May 9, 1997, 6:20 PM EDT (22:20 UTC)
- Expired
- May 9, 1997, 6:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 25 min
- Issued by
- NWS Columbia, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Sumter County, SC
The radar
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 68 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:21 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, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 118 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
- 54 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -154 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1047 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 37 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 127 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 184 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCAE 092217 RRA SVRCAE SCC085-092245- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 620 PM EDT FRI MAY 9 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 645 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH CAROLINA ...SUMTER COUNTY AT 617 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST NORTH OF EASTOVER IN EXTREME SOUTHEAST RICHLAND COUNTY. THIS THUNDERSTORM IS MOVING TOWARD THE SOUTHEAST INTO SUMTER COUNTY AT 45 MPH AND WILL PASS BETWEEN WEDGEFIELD AND PINEWOOD AFTER 630 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. DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD. L HG
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, May 9, 5:51 PM EDT, 29 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
551 PM EDT FRI MAY 09 1997
TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST ...EVENT/REMARKS...
.....COUNTY LOCATION.....
545 PM LEXINGTON SC WIND DAMAGE
05/09/97 LEXINGTON LEXINGTON SHERIFFS
DEPARTMENT REPORTED
PORTIONS OF LEXINGTON
MIDDLE SCHOOL ROOF BLOWN
OFF.
LCVThe office that day
Everything else NWS Columbia, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 5:37 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Lexington, Richland | 53 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.