Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 18, NWS Wilmington, NC

April 22, 1997Florence County, South Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 22, 1997, 9:54 PM EDT for Florence County, South Carolina. It was in force for 61 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: Apr 22, 1997, 9:54 PM EDT (01:54 UTC)
Expired: Apr 22, 1997, 10:55 PM EDT
In force: 61 min
Issued by: NWS Wilmington, NC
Area: Whole counties

County Florence County, SC

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 22, 10:23 PM EDT	Hail 1	Lake City, SC
Apr 22, 10:50 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Lake City, SC	NUMEROUS TREES DOWN IN LAKE CITY

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
Apr 22, 9:00 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 00:00Z, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 128 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: 885 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -24 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1589 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 42 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 100 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 1.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

395 
WUUS1 KILM 230154 RRA
SVRILM
SCC041-230255-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
954 PM EDT TUE APR 22 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON NC HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1055 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA

   ...FLORENCE
 
AT 954 PM EDT...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY WILMINGTON
DOPPLER RADAR 4 MILES SOUTHWEST OF OLANTA MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.
THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL.

THIS STORM CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE VICINITY OF...
        OLANTA                  BY 1000 PM EDT
        LAKE CITY               BY 1015 PM EDT
        COWARD                  BY 1015 PM EDT

 A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN
PRODUCE TORNADOES.
 
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.

SQI

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 Wilmington, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Apr 22, 9:02 PM EDT, 52 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 22, 9:02 PM EDT, 52 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
9 PM EDT TUE APR 22 1997

RDU & CAE: CONT GOING TRND WITH SHRA/TSRA OVR CWA THRU WED AS LO PRES
AND ASSOCD CDFNT MOVS THRU THE AREA.

DISC: CRNTLY...SHRA/TSRA CONT TO MOV ENE ACRS THE AREA AS NRLY STNRY
WMFNT DRIFTS N. WMFNT WILL CONT N AS AN IMPRESSIVE LO PRES SYS AND
ITS ASSOCD FNT MOV INTO THE RGN. SYS IS MSTR LADEN AS GLF IS TAPPED.
THE LO/FNT ARE PROGGD TO MOV ACRS THE AREA WED AND OFF THE CST WED
EVE. LOOKS LIKE WED WILL BE AN ACTIVE DAY AS DYNAMICS ARE IN PLC.
MDLS AGR IN MOVG SERIES OF STG SHRT WVS THRU RGN WHICH WILL ENHANCE
THE ACTVTY. CONT CRNT FCST TRND. GOING TEMPS/POPS OK.

FOR CSTL WTRS...CONT CRNT TRND.

DTR

The office that day

Everything else NWS Wilmington, NC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 22, 10:22 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	ILM	Florence	33 min
Apr 22, 10:37 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Williamsburg	63 min
Apr 22, 10:41 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Horry, Marion	64 min
Apr 22, 10:52 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Florence	33 min
Apr 22, 10:58 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Georgetown	47 min
Apr 22, 11:13 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	ILM	Horry, Marion	32 min
Apr 23, 2:14 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Florence	46 min
Apr 23, 2:40 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Marion	35 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.