Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 109, NWS Charleston, SC

November 1, 1997Dorchester County, South Carolina

NWS Charleston, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Nov 1, 1997, 11:10 PM EST for Dorchester County, South Carolina. It was in force for 35 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: Nov 1, 1997, 11:10 PM EST (04:10 UTC)
Expired: Nov 1, 1997, 11:45 PM EST
In force: 35 min
Issued by: NWS Charleston, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Dorchester County, SC

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:10 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
Nov 1, 11:30 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Knightsville, 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 00:00Z, 4.2 hours before the alert went out and 43 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: 259 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -102 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 770 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 116 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 160 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCHS 020408 RRA
SVRCHS
SCC035-020445-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
1110 PM EST SAT NOV 1 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1145 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...DORCHESTER COUNTY
 
AT 1107 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN CHARLESTON INDICATED
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR GIVHANS STATE PARK MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45
MPH. THIS STORM WILL AFFECT THE RIDGEVILLE AREA BY 1120 PM
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.
 
JCI

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.

NWS Charleston, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Nov 1, 9:00 PM EST, 2 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 1, 9:00 PM EST, 2 hours 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
900 PM EST SAT NOV 1 1997

PCPN SHLD MOVG THRU CSRA AND WRN SC IN ADVANCE OF CD FNT LOC ALND AL/MS
BORDER. SAT PIX SHOWS A DISTINCT CLEARING LINE INDICATING CD FNT. SVRL
OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES IN GA/SC ALONG WITH AN INC LLJ AND APPRCHNG UPR LVL
FORCING WILL AID IN TSTM DVLPMENT THAT IS POS SVR. FOR ERN SC/GA EXPECT
CUR ZONE FCST GROUPS TO REFLECT CONDITIONS OVNT. CWF...WINDS ON CSTL
WATERS BLO 20 KTS ATTM...BUT WL INCREASE AS PRESS GRAD TIGHTENS OVNT.
CUR FCST IS FINE.

RMC

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 1, 9:33 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Hampton	27 min
Nov 1, 11:00 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Colleton	30 min
Nov 1, 11:35 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Berkeley	25 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 1997 Every 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.