Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 37, NWS Charleston, SC

June 3, 1997Charleston County, South Carolina

NWS Charleston, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 3, 1997, 7:00 PM EDT for Charleston County, South Carolina. It was in force for 45 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: Jun 3, 1997, 7:00 PM EDT (23:00 UTC)
Expired: Jun 3, 1997, 7:45 PM EDT
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Charleston, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Charleston County, SC

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 103 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:00 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
Jun 3, 7:05 PM EDT	Hail 1	Charleston Afb, SC
Jun 3, 7:12 PM EDT	Hail 0.88	Charleston Hgts, 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, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 18 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: 845 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -38 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 917 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 23 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.

123 
WUUS1 KCHS 032301 RRA
SVRCHS
SCC019-032345-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
700 PM EDT TUE JUN 3 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...CHARLESTON COUNTY
 
AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS
 
 
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS MOVING FROM THE GOOSE CREEK AREA INTO NORTH
CHARLESTON. THE STORM WILL PRODUCE HAIL UP TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER AND
WIND GUSTS OVER 60 MPH. THE STORM WILL MOVE OVER THE INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT AROUND 715 AND DOWNTOWN CHARLESTON BY 730.
 
BOATER AND OTHER RECREATIONAL USERS IN THE WARNED AREA SHOULD
MOVE TO SAFE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.
 
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
DONT 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 Jun 3, 1:07 PM EDT, 5 hours 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 3, 1:07 PM EDT, 5 hours 53 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
100 PM EDT TUE JUN 03 1997

TSTM ACTVY STIFLED SO FAR S AND W OF A LINE FROM MCCLELLANVILLE TO FLO
TO NEWBERRY AND SO DONT SEE A NEED FOR TNGT TO MENTION AFTER HEATING
GONE.  MODELS IN CLOSE AGREEMENT ON TEMPS NEXT 48H WITH ARND 80 FOR HI
AND MID 60S LOWS...BUT AVN SOMEWHAT WETTER.  AS OF NOW WOULD PREFER
TO KEEP IN SLGT CHC CAT (20PCT) DURING AFTN NEXT TWO DAYS.

ON CWF...MODELS HAVE COME AROUND AND ARE NOW GIVING NE FLOW ALG CST
BY MIDDAY WED ON NGM...BUT ETA IN BETTER AGREEMENT WITH WHAT IS THERE
NOW...WHICH IS LIGHT NORTHERLY IN SOME LOCATIONS.  ETA KEEPS NE OR E
AND INCREASES TO 17-19 KT BY LATE WED OR WED NIGHT.  CONDS OFFSHORE
HAVE BEEN EXCEEDING THESE MODELS BY 5-10 KT WHEN NELY FLOW IS FCST
DURING LAST FEW EPISODES...SO WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO HAVE NE 20 KT
AND 6 FT SEAS ARND OR SHORTLY AFTER DAYBREAK WED.  SCA MAY BE NEEDED
THEN.

JFT

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jun 3, 3:10 PM EDT, 3 hours 50 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA
310 PM EDT TUE JUN 03 1997

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

 0230 PM   NORTH MYRTLE BEACH         SC   .75 INCH HAIL
06/03/97   HORRY                          DISPATCH REPORT

Local storm report, Jun 3, 3:12 PM EDT, 3 hours 48 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA
310 PM EDT TUE JUN 03 1997

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

 0230 PM   NORTH MYRTLE BEACH         SC   .75 INCH HAIL
06/03/97   HORRY                          DISPATCH REPORT

Local storm report, Jun 3, 4:40 PM EDT, 2 hours 20 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA
440 PM EDT TUE JUN 03 1997

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

0358 PM    CONWAY                    SC   .75 INCH HAIL
06/03/97   HORRY                          HAM RADIO REPORT
                                          4 MI WEST OF CONWAY

0420 PM    OUTLAND                   SC   .75 INCH HAIL
06/03/97   GEORGETOWN                     DISPATCH REPORT

Local storm report, Jun 3, 4:41 PM EDT, 2 hours 19 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA
440 PM EDT TUE JUN 03 1997

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

0358 PM    CONWAY                    SC   .75 INCH HAIL
06/03/97   HORRY                          HAM RADIO REPORT
                                          4 MI WEST OF CONWAY

0420 PM    OUTLAND                   SC   .75 INCH HAIL
06/03/97   GEORGETOWN                     DISPATCH REPORT

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 2, 10:10 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Beaufort	35 min
Jun 3, 6:42 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Berkeley	33 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.