Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 65, NWS Columbia, SC
NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 5, 1997, 4:44 PM EDT for Sumter County, South Carolina. It was in force for 46 min. 1 report 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
- Jul 5, 1997, 4:44 PM EDT (20:44 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 5, 1997, 5:30 PM EDT
- In force
- 46 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 20:45 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 5, 5:15 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Pinewood, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 5, 4:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 7 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 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
- 2272 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -119 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1274 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 12 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 11 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 20 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 052045 RRA SVRCAE SCC085-052130- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 444 PM EDT SAT JUL 5 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 ...SOUTHERN SUMTER COUNTY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVING OUT OF THE FORT MOTT AREA TOWARD THE TOWN OF PINEWOOD IN SOUTHERN SUMTER COUNTY. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH AND WILL BE CLOSE TO PINEWOOD BY 510 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. BC/KR/MPD
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
Special weather statement, Jul 5, 11:20 AM EDT, 5 hours 24 minutes before
SCZ015-016-018-020-021-022-025-026-027-028-029-030-031- 035-036-037-038-041-GAZ040-063-064-065-077-052130- THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 1120 AM EDT SAT JUL 5 1997 ...THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS INCREASE MOVING SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE MIDLANDS AND CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA THIS AFTERNOON... WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING MAINLY OVER THE EASTERN AND SOUTHEASTERN MIDLANDS AND CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA. LOW PRESSURE OVER SOUTH CENTRAL GEORGIA AND A FRONTAL BOUNDARY THROUGH THE EASTERN MIDLANDS AND CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA WERE CAUSING THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHERN GEORGIA LATE THIS MORNING. THOSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST INTO UNSTABLE AIR AND SHOULD MAINTAIN THEMSELVES. THE NORTHWESTERN EXTENT OF THOSE STORMS COULD AFFECT THE MIDLANDS AND CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA THIS AFTERNOON...ESPECIALLY SOUTHEAST OF A CHESTERFIELD TO ORANGEBURG TO WAYNESBORO LINE. A FEW OF THOSE STORMS COULD CONTAIN DAMAGING WINDS...AND THEY ALL WOULD CONTAIN DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. EMERGENCY MANAGERS AND SPOTTERS SHOULD MONITOR CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS. BE PREPARED FOR QUICK ACTION IF THREATENING WEATHER IS OBSERVED OR A WARNING IS ISSUED. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA FOR ANY PERTINENT WEATHER INFORMATION. MPD
Special weather statement, Jul 5, 11:23 AM EDT, 5 hours 21 minutes before
SCZ015-016-018-020-021-022-025-026-027-028-029-030-031- 035-036-037-038-041-GAZ040-063-064-065-077-052130- THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 1120 AM EDT SAT JUL 5 1997 ...THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS INCREASE MOVING SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE MIDLANDS AND CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA THIS AFTERNOON... WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING MAINLY OVER THE EASTERN AND SOUTHEASTERN MIDLANDS AND CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA. LOW PRESSURE OVER SOUTH CENTRAL GEORGIA AND A FRONTAL BOUNDARY THROUGH THE EASTERN MIDLANDS AND CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA WERE CAUSING THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHERN GEORGIA LATE THIS MORNING. THOSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST INTO UNSTABLE AIR AND SHOULD MAINTAIN THEMSELVES. THE NORTHWESTERN EXTENT OF THOSE STORMS COULD AFFECT THE MIDLANDS AND CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA THIS AFTERNOON...ESPECIALLY SOUTHEAST OF A CHESTERFIELD TO ORANGEBURG TO WAYNESBORO LINE. A FEW OF THOSE STORMS COULD CONTAIN DAMAGING WINDS...AND THEY ALL WOULD CONTAIN DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. EMERGENCY MANAGERS AND SPOTTERS SHOULD MONITOR CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS. BE PREPARED FOR QUICK ACTION IF THREATENING WEATHER IS OBSERVED OR A WARNING IS ISSUED. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA FOR ANY PERTINENT WEATHER INFORMATION. MPD
The office that day
Everything else NWS Columbia, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 5, 3:53 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Calhoun | 67 min |
| Jul 5, 5:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Calhoun | 45 min |
| Jul 5, 5:24 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Barnwell | 36 min |
| Jul 5, 5:40 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Bamberg | 65 min |
| Jul 5, 6:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Clarendon | 45 min |
| Jul 5, 7:50 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Calhoun | 40 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.