Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Columbia, SC

May 31, 1997Lexington County, Richland County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1997, 6:32 PM EDT for Lexington County, Richland County, South Carolina. It was in force for 28 min. 3 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: May 31, 1997, 6:32 PM EDT (22:32 UTC)
Expired: May 31, 1997, 7:00 PM EDT
In force: 28 min
Issued by: NWS Columbia, SC
Area: Whole counties

Counties Lexington County, SC, Richland County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 3 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:32 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
May 31, 6:44 PM EDT	Hail 1.75	Irmo, SC
May 31, 6:45 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Irmo, SC
May 31, 6:50 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Ballentine, SC

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, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 155 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: 578 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -30 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 541 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 66 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 55 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCAE 312230 RRA
TORCAE
SCC063-079-312300-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
632 PM EDT SAT MAY 31 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...NORTHERN LEXINGTON COUNTY...NORTHERN RICHLAND COUNTY
 
AT 630 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO
OVER THE TOWN OF IRMO. THIS TORNADO WILL MOVE NORTH FROM THE TOWN OF
IRMO INTO NORTHWEST RICHLAND COUNTY.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW
GROUND IF AVAILABLE.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY
FURNITURE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...OR CUSHIONS TO COVER
YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES.
 
 
HG

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 31, 6:23 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Lexington, Richland	37 min
May 31, 7:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Lexington	41 min
May 31, 7:58 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	CAE	Lexington	3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Carolina, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.