Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Charleston, SC

May 3, 1997Chatham County, Georgia

NWS Charleston, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 1997, 2:55 PM EDT for Chatham County, Georgia. It was in force for 50 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: May 3, 1997, 2:55 PM EDT (18:55 UTC)
Expired: May 3, 1997, 3:45 PM EDT
In force: 50 min
Issued by: NWS Charleston, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Chatham County, GA

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:57 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
May 3, 3:00 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	Savannah, GA

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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 3, 12:15 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr
May 3, 2:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 6.9 hours before the alert went out and 145 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: 637 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -72 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 880 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 115 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 150 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.2
Supercell composite: 2.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCHS 031851 RRA
SVRCHS
GAC051-031945-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
255 PM EDT SAT MAY 3 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  345 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  GEORGIA
 
   ...CHATHAM COUNTY
 
AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS
 
 
RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER CHATHAM COUNTY APPROACHING
THE CITY OF SAVANNAH.
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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 May 3, 9:30 AM EDT, 5 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 3, 9:30 AM EDT, 5 hours 25 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
930 AM EDT SAT MAY 3 1997

MODIFIED CHS SOUNDING SHOWS CAPES 2500-3000...LIS -10...DPS ATTM ARE
IN THE LOWER 70S SO PREPARING FOR ACTIVE AFTERNOON.  MAY WANT TO BUMP
TEMPS TO LOW TO MID 80S BASED ON CURRENT OBS/SKY CONDITION.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 3, 2:20 PM EDT, 35 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA
220 PM EDT SAT MAY 03 1997

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

0205 PM    CANNADYS                  SC   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/03/97   DORCHESTER                     REPORTED BY EMA

Local storm report, May 3, 2:25 PM EDT, 30 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA
220 PM EDT SAT MAY 03 1997

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

0205 PM    CANNADYS                  SC   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/03/97   DORCHESTER                     REPORTED BY EMA

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 3, 12:48 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Jenkins	42 min
May 3, 12:52 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Screven	53 min
May 3, 2:15 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Tattnall	60 min
May 3, 2:37 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Bryan	53 min
May 3, 3:04 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Effingham	41 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 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.