Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 72, NWS Columbia, SC

July 9, 1997Richland County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 9, 1997, 7:37 PM EDT for Richland County, South Carolina. It was in force for 68 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 9, 1997, 7:37 PM EDT (23:37 UTC)
Expired
Jul 9, 1997, 8:45 PM EDT
In force
68 min
Issued by
NWS Columbia, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Richland County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 21 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:37 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
Jul 9, 7:45 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Columbia, 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, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 150 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 1997-07-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 17 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 1997-07-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 13 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
17 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-113 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
909 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-3 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 092340 RRA
SVRCAE
SCC079-100045-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING...CORRECTED FOR TIME
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
737 PM EDT WED JUL 9 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  845 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN  SOUTH CAROLINA

   ...NORTHERN RICHLAND COUNTY

AT 735 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
15 MILES NORTHEAST OF COLUMBIA NEAR SESQUICENTENNIAL STATE PARK MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH. THIS THUNDERSTORM IS EXPECTED TO MOVE EAST OF
BLYTHEWOOD BEFORE 830 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.

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

Special weather statement, Jul 9, 2:38 PM EDT, 4 hours 59 minutes before
SCZ015-016-018-020-021-022-025-026-027-028-029-030-031-
035-036-037-038-041-GAZ040-063-064-065-077-100021-

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
238 PM EDT WED JUL 9 1997

AIR IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY MOIST AND UNSTABLE OVER MUCH OF SOUTH
CAROLINA AND EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON...AND A TROUGH OF
LOW PRESSURE OVER NORTHWEST SOUTH CAROLINA HAS INTENSIFIED AHEAD OF
A COLD FRONT MOVING TOWARD THE STATE. THESE CONDITIONS GIVE THE
POTENTIAL FOR SOME STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE LATE
AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING OVER MUCH OF THE AREA... INCLUDING THE
CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA OF GEORGIA AND THE MIDLANDS OF SOUTH
CAROLINA.

SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD CAUSE STRONG AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS AND
HAIL AS THEY MOVE EASTWARD ACROSS THESE AREAS.

ALL INTERESTS SHOULD BE AWARE OF THIS POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE
WEATHER AND KEEP POSTED ON WEATHER STATEMENTS...WATCHES...
OR WARNINGS WHICH MAY BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS OFFICIALS ARE REQUESTED TO REMAIN ALERT AND
MAKE PRELIMINARY PLANS TO DEAL WITH SEVERE WEATHER SHOULD IT OCCUR.
SEVERE WEATHER SPOTTERS...INCLUDING AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS ARE
ENCOURAGED TO MONITOR THE WEATHER AND RELAY REPORTS PROMPTLY TO THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

BLP
Special weather statement, Jul 9, 2:39 PM EDT, 4 hours 58 minutes before
SCZ015-016-018-020-021-022-025-026-027-028-029-030-031-
035-036-037-038-041-GAZ040-063-064-065-077-100021-

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
238 PM EDT WED JUL 9 1997

AIR IS BECOMING INCREASINGLY MOIST AND UNSTABLE OVER MUCH OF SOUTH
CAROLINA AND EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON...AND A TROUGH OF
LOW PRESSURE OVER NORTHWEST SOUTH CAROLINA HAS INTENSIFIED AHEAD OF
A COLD FRONT MOVING TOWARD THE STATE. THESE CONDITIONS GIVE THE
POTENTIAL FOR SOME STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE LATE
AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING OVER MUCH OF THE AREA... INCLUDING THE
CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA OF GEORGIA AND THE MIDLANDS OF SOUTH
CAROLINA.

SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD CAUSE STRONG AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS AND
HAIL AS THEY MOVE EASTWARD ACROSS THESE AREAS.

ALL INTERESTS SHOULD BE AWARE OF THIS POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE
WEATHER AND KEEP POSTED ON WEATHER STATEMENTS...WATCHES...
OR WARNINGS WHICH MAY BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS OFFICIALS ARE REQUESTED TO REMAIN ALERT AND
MAKE PRELIMINARY PLANS TO DEAL WITH SEVERE WEATHER SHOULD IT OCCUR.
SEVERE WEATHER SPOTTERS...INCLUDING AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS ARE
ENCOURAGED TO MONITOR$ THE WEATHER AND RELAY REPORTS PROMPTLY TO THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

BLP

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.