Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 73, NWS Columbia, SC

July 9, 1997Richland County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 9, 1997, 8:37 PM EDT for Richland County, South Carolina. It was in force for 68 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: Jul 9, 1997, 8:37 PM EDT (00:37 UTC)
Expired: Jul 9, 1997, 9:45 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 00:37 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 00:00Z, 0.6 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-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: 2567 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 650 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 18 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 71 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 2.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCAE 092337 RRA
SVRCAE
SCC079-100145-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
837 PM EDT WED JUL 9 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 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, 5 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, 5 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

Local storm report, Jul 9, 7:59 PM EDT, 38 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
759 PM EDT WED JUL 09 1997

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

740 PM     15 W COLUMBIA             SC   WIND DAMAGE
07/09/97   LEXINGTON                      SPOTTER AT LAKE MURRAY
                                          REPORTED TREES DOWN AND
                                          POWER OUT...PLUS 55 MPH
                                          WIND GUST AND PEA SIZE
                                          HAIL

745 PM     15 N COLUMBIA             SC   WIND DAMAGE
07/09/97   RICHLAND                       RICHLAND COUNTY SHERIFF
                                          REPORTED TREES DOWN ON
                                          LOCAL ROAD...THREE HOUSES
                                          STRUCK BY LIGHTNING...AND
                                          POWER OUTAGES

MOORE

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.