Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 83, NWS Columbia, SC

July 16, 1997Saluda County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 16, 1997, 5:10 PM EDT for Saluda County, South Carolina. It was in force for 35 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 16, 1997, 5:10 PM EDT (21:10 UTC)
Expired
Jul 16, 1997, 5:45 PM EDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Columbia, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Saluda County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 56 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:13 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 16, 5:30 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Ridge Spring, SCCounty Highway Dept. reports trees and powerlines down.

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, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 202 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 1997-07-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1704 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 1997-07-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -4 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
1704 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-56 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
928 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
1 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
5 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 162112 RRA
SVRCAE
SCC081-162145-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
510 PM EDT WED JUL 16 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...SALUDA COUNTY
 
AT 510 PM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN THE NORTHWEST
PART OF SALUDA COUNTY. THE STORM WAS ABOUT 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF SALUDA
AND DRIFTING SLOWLY SOUTHEAST.
 
 
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.
 
AMATEUR RADIO AND OTHER SPOTTERS ARE REQUESTED TO MONITOR THIS
STORM AND RELAY REPORTS PRO2MPTLY TO THE NEAREST NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.
 
JL/MC

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 15, 8:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEClarendon, Orangeburg49 min
Jul 16, 5:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELexington30 min
Jul 16, 5:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEChesterfield26 min
Jul 16, 5:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAERichland38 min
Jul 16, 5:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELexington38 min
Jul 16, 6:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEMcCormick39 min
Jul 16, 6:13 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEAiken47 min
Jul 16, 6:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELexington35 min
Jul 16, 6:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEFairfield, Lancaster50 min
Jul 16, 6:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAECalhoun, Lexington46 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.