Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 97, NWS Columbia, SC

July 24, 1997Lee County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 24, 1997, 1:07 AM EDT for Lee County, South Carolina. It was in force for 38 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 24, 1997, 1:07 AM EDT (05:07 UTC)
Expired
Jul 24, 1997, 1:45 AM EDT
In force
38 min
Issued by
NWS Columbia, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Lee County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:07 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, 5.1 hours before the alert went out and 142 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 00:00Z on 1997-07-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 662 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 00:00Z on 1997-07-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 44 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
662 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-41 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1073 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
44 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
69 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 240509 RRA
SVRCAE
SCC061-240545-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
107 AM EDT THU JUL 24 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  145 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...LEE COUNTY
 
WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER
SOUTHERN KERSHAW COUNTY ENTERING LEE COUNTY. THE TOWN OF BISHOPVILLE IS
IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM. THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING WIND
DAMAGE. THE STORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU ARE IN
ITS PATH. INTENSE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN CAUSE AS MUCH DAMAGE
AS SOME TORNADOES.
 
 
CTC

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 24, 12:50 AM EDT, 17 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
1250 AM EDT THU JUL 24 1997

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

1240 AM    HOPKINS                   SC   TORNADO
07/24/97   RICHLAND                       RICHLAND COUNTY SHERIFF
                                          REPORTS TORNADO TOUCHDOWN
                                          WITH WIDESPREADDAMAGE IN
                                          THE HOPKINS AREA.

CTC
Local storm report, Jul 24, 12:51 AM EDT, 16 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
1251 AM EDT THU JUL 24 1997

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

1242 AM    5 E COLUMBIA              SC   TORNADO
07/24/97   RICHLAND                       RICHLAND EMS REPORTS
                                          TORNADO TOUCHDOWN ON
                                          EASTMONT DRIVE JUST
                                          OFFLEESBURG ROAD IN
                                          EASTERN RICHLAND COUNTY.

CTC
Local storm report, Jul 24, 12:55 AM EDT, 12 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA, SC
1255 AM EDT THU JUL 24 1997

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

1240 AM    HOPKINS                   SC   TORNADO
07/24/97   RICHLAND                       RICHLAND COUNTY SHERIFF
                                          REPORTS TORNADO TOUCHDOWN
                                          WITH WIDESPREAD DAMAGE IN
                                          THE HOPKINS AREA.

CTC

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 24, 12:23 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAERichland37 min
Jul 24, 12:30 AM EDTTornado WarningCAERichland30 min
Jul 24, 12:44 AM EDTTornado WarningCAEKershaw31 min
Jul 24, 6:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEOrangeburg36 min
Jul 24, 6:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEClarendon61 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.