Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 80, NWS Columbia, SC

July 15, 1997Richland County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 15, 1997, 6:01 PM EDT for Richland County, South Carolina. It was in force for 44 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
Jul 15, 1997, 6:01 PM EDT (22:01 UTC)
Expired
Jul 15, 1997, 6:45 PM EDT
In force
44 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 22:01 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 15, 6:12 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Columbia, SCSCE&G reports trees down on powerlines causing numerous power outages.
Jul 15, 6:15 PM EDTHail 1Columbia, SCSheriff reports quarter size hail and strong wind gusts.

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, 10.0 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 1997-07-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 558 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 1997-07-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 55 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
558 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-105 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1046 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
55 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
104 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 152202 RRA
SVRCAE
SCC079-152245-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
601 PM EDT TUE JUL 15 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
 
   ...RICHLAND COUNTY
 
AT 600 PM DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES NORTHEAST
OF COLUMBIA. THE STORM WAS DMOVING EAST AROUND 10 MPH AND WILL MOVE JUST
NORTH OF FORT JACKSON ALONG INTERSTATE 20.

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, Jul 15, 2:50 PM EDT, 3 hours 11 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
250 PM EDT TUE JUL 15 1997

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

825 PM     BLYTHEWOOD                SC   1.00 INCH HAIL
07/14/97   RICHLAND                       PUBIC REPORTED QUARTER
                                          SIZED HAIL 2 MILES NORTH
                                          OF TOWN OF BLYTHEWOOD ON
                                          HIGHWAY 21

TTH

The office that day

Everything else NWS Columbia, SC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 14, 8:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAERichland43 min
Jul 15, 1:58 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAERichland47 min
Jul 15, 7:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAESumter41 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.