Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Wilmington, NC

November 2, 1997Williamsburg County, South Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at Nov 2, 1997, 1:01 AM EST for Williamsburg County, South Carolina. It was in force for 19 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Nov 2, 1997, 1:01 AM EST (06:01 UTC)
Expired
Nov 2, 1997, 1:20 AM EST
In force
19 min
Issued by
NWS Wilmington, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Williamsburg County, SC

The radar

The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 127 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:04 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 00:00Z, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 84 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Charleston AFB, SC at 00:00Z on 1997-11-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 259 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Charleston AFB, SC at 00:00Z on 1997-11-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 116 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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 KILM 020600 RRA
TORILM
SCC089-020620-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
101 AM EST SUN NOV 2 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON NC HAS ISSUED A...

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

  EXTREME NORTHEASTERN WILLIAMSBURG COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN SOUTH
CAROLINA

* UNTIL 120 AM EST

 
* AT 1259 AM EST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 27
  MILES NORTH OF GEORGETOWN OR IN THE VICINITY OF HEMINGWAY MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN RURAL AREAS BUT COULD BRUSH
  THE TOWN OF HEMINGWAY THROUGH 110 AM.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...GO TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR OF A BUILDING. AVOID WINDOWS. IF CAUGHT OUTSIDE...LAY
DOWN IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.


LGE/JAH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 2, 12:36 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMWilliamsburg9 min
Nov 2, 12:36 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMWilliamsburg24 min
Nov 2, 1:14 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMHorry, Marion31 min
Nov 2, 1:24 AM ESTTornado WarningILMHorry, Marion31 min
Nov 2, 1:44 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMMarlboro46 min
Nov 2, 1:44 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMGeorgetown, Marion46 min
Nov 2, 1:53 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMHorry47 min
Nov 2, 2:41 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMHorry59 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.