Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Columbia, SC

July 24, 1997Richland County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this tornado warning at Jul 24, 1997, 12:30 AM EDT for Richland County, South Carolina. It was in force for 30 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 24, 1997, 12:30 AM EDT (04:30 UTC)
Expired
Jul 24, 1997, 1:00 AM EDT
In force
30 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 04:31 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 24, 12:32 AM EDTTornado F0Columbia, SCAn F0 tornado touched down on the north side of Ft. Jackson and took down some trees in the training area.

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 00:00Z, 4.5 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 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 240433 RRA
TORCAE
SCC079-240500-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
1230 AM EDT THU JUL 24 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  100 AM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...EASTERN RICHLAND COUNTY
 
WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO OVER FORT
JACKSON. THIS STORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MjPH.
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM! SEEK SHELTER NOW!
 
 
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, 12:44 AM EDTTornado WarningCAEKershaw31 min
Jul 24, 1:07 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELee38 min
Jul 24, 6:09 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEOrangeburg36 min
Jul 24, 6:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEClarendon61 min

Nearby

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