Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 4, NWS Columbia, SC
NWS Columbia, SC issued this tornado warning at Jul 24, 1997, 12:44 AM EDT for Kershaw County, South Carolina. It was in force for 31 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 24, 1997, 12:44 AM EDT (04:44 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 24, 1997, 1:15 AM EDT
- In force
- 31 min
- Issued by
- NWS Columbia, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Kershaw County, SC
The radar
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 65 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:46 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 24, 12:48 AM EDT | Tornado F2 | Camden, SC | An F2 tornado produced winds to 135 mph. Numerous trees were down. Two homes had major damage and three had minor damage. One mobile home was destroyed and three others had minor damage. One person was injured. |
| Jul 24, 1:20 AM EDT | Tornado F1 | Bethune, SC | An F1 tornado produced winds to 90 mph and damaged a home north of Bethune before crossing the county and and diminishing to an F0 which took down many trees in the Carolina Sand Hills National Wildlife Refuge just north of Mc Bee. |
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, 4.7 hours before the alert went out and 169 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCAE 240446 RRA TORCAE SCC055-240515- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 1244 AM EDT THU JUL 24 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 115 AM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH CAROLINA ...SOUTHERN KERSHAW COUNTY WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO JUST WEST KERSHAW-RICHLAND COUNTY ALONG HIGHWAY 601. THE TOWN OF BOY~KIN IS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM WHICH IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM! SEEK SHELTER NOW!
The office that day
Everything else NWS Columbia, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 24, 12:23 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Richland | 37 min |
| Jul 24, 12:30 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Richland | 30 min |
| Jul 24, 1:07 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Lee | 38 min |
| Jul 24, 6:09 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Orangeburg | 36 min |
| Jul 24, 6:59 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Clarendon | 61 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.