Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 87, NWS Columbia, SC
NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 16, 1997, 5:52 PM EDT for Lexington County, South Carolina. It was in force for 38 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 16, 1997, 5:52 PM EDT (21:52 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 16, 1997, 6:30 PM EDT
- In force
- 38 min
- Issued by
- NWS Columbia, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lexington County, SC
The radar
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 15 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:43 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 16, 6:00 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 60 | Batesburg, SC | Sheriff reports trees down along U.S.1. |
| Jul 16, 6:38 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 70 | Pelion, SC | Storm survey found many trees down and extensive crop damage on a couple of farms. Over 50 acres of corn crops were flattened by several downbursts. One mobile home had a tree fall on it. |
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, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 162 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCAE 162154 RRA SVRCAE SCC063-162230- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 552 PM EDT WED JUL 16 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 630 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH CAROLINA ...LEXINGTON COUNTY THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING ISSUED EARLIER FOR LEXINGTON COUNTY HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL 630 PM. RADAR INDICATED SCATTERED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN THE COUNTY. MOST OF THESE STORMS WERE CONFINED TO THE NORTH HALF OF THE COUNTY. THE STORMS WERE MOVING SLOWLY. 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 PROMPTLY TO THE NEAREST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.
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 16, 5:18 PM EDT, 34 minutes before
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SHORT TERM FORECAST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 518 PM EDT WED JUL 16 1997 SCZ020-026-027-028-170056- LEXINGTON-NEWBERRY-RICHLAND-SALUDA- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...COLUMBIA...LEXINGTON 518 PM EDT WED JUL 16 1997 .NOW... ...STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN COLUMBIA AND SALUDA COUNTY... THUNDERSTORMS WILL COVER EASTERN LEXINGTON COUNTY...WESTERN RICHLAND COUNTY AND SALUDA COUNTY THROUGH 6 PM. STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE NORTHWEST PART OF SALUDA COUNTY AND THE COLUMBIA METRO AREA INCLUDING THE AIRPORT AREA. THESE STORMS WILL CONTAIN HEAVY RAINFALL AMOUNT OF 2 TO 3 INCHES...HAIL AND WIND GUSTS OF 40 TO 60 MPH. MORE STORMS WILL FORM IN NEWBERRY COUNTY AFTER 530 PM. DANGEROUS LIGHTNING IS ALSO EXPECTED. && ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING SALUDA COUNTY UNTIL 545 PM... TTH
Special weather statement, Jul 16, 5:21 PM EDT, 31 minutes before
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SHORT TERM FORECAST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 518 PM EDT WED JUL 16 1997 SCZ020-026-027-028-170056- LEXINGTON-NEWBERRY-RICHLAND-SALUDA- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...COLUMBIA...LEXINGTON 518 PM EDT WED JUL 16 1997 .NOW... ...STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN COLUMBIA AND SALUDA COUNTY... THUNDERSTORMS WILL COVER EASTERN LEXINGTON COUNTY...WESTERN RICHLAND COUNTY AND SALUDA COUNTY THROUGH 6 PM. STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE NORTHWEST PART OF SALUDA COUNTY AND THE COLUMBIA METRO AREA INCLUDING THE AIRPORT AREA. THESE STORMS WILL CONTAIN HEAVY RAINFALL AMOUNT OF 2 TO 3 INCHES...HAIL AND WIND GUSTS OF 40 TO 60 MPH. JMORE STORMS WILL FORM IN NEWBERRY COUNTY AFTER 530 PM. DANGEROUS LIGHTNING IS ALSO EXPECTED. && ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING SALUDA COUNTY UNTIL 545 PM... TTH
Local storm report, Jul 16, 5:51 PM EDT, 1 minute before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
551 PM EDT WED JUL 16 1997
TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST ...EVENT/REMARKS...
.....COUNTY LOCATION.....
548 PM COLUMBIA SC WIND DAMAGE
07/16/97 RICHLAND SPOTTERS REPORTED LARGE
LIMBS DOWN IN DOWNTOWN
COLUMBIA...AND DIME SIZE
HAIL.
MOOREThe office that day
Everything else NWS Columbia, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 15, 8:11 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Clarendon, Orangeburg | 49 min |
| Jul 16, 5:10 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Saluda | 35 min |
| Jul 16, 5:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Lexington | 30 min |
| Jul 16, 5:34 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Chesterfield | 26 min |
| Jul 16, 5:37 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Richland | 38 min |
| Jul 16, 6:06 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | McCormick | 39 min |
| Jul 16, 6:13 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Aiken | 47 min |
| Jul 16, 6:25 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Lexington | 35 min |
| Jul 16, 6:55 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Fairfield, Lancaster | 50 min |
| Jul 16, 6:59 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Calhoun, Lexington | 46 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.