Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Wilmington, NC

April 22, 1997Horry County, Marion County, South Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at Apr 22, 1997, 11:13 PM EDT for Horry County, Marion County, South Carolina. It was in force for 32 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, 11:13 PM EDT (03:13 UTC)
Expired: Apr 22, 1997, 11:45 PM EDT
In force: 32 min
Issued by: NWS Wilmington, NC
Area: Whole counties

Counties Horry County, SC, Marion County, SC

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 22, 11:20 PM EDT	Hail 1	Gresham, SC
Apr 22, 11:25 PM EDT	Tornado F1	Conway, SC	ONE INFANT HOSPITALIZED TO HAVE SPLINTERS REMOVED, TWO HOUSES SUFFERED DAMAGE FROM FALLEN TREES, NUMEROUS POWER LINES DOWN

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, 3.2 hours before the alert went out and 144 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.

869 
WFUS1 KILM 230313 RRA
TORILM
SCC051-067-230345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
1113 PM EDT TUE APR 22 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON NC HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1145 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA

   ...WESTERN HORRY
   ...MARION
 
AT 1107 PM EDT...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY WILMINGTON
DOPPLER RADAR 3 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF GRESHAM MOVING EAST AT 65
MPH.

THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE AROUND...
        BRITTON NECK            BY 1114 PM EDT
        JORDANVILLE             BY 1119 PM EDT
        COOL SPRING             BY 1124 PM EDT
        HOMEWOOD                BY 1128 PM EDT
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IN A HOME OR
BUSINESS IS AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID
WINDOWS.

HAWKINS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 22, 9:54 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Florence	61 min
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 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

Tornado Warnings in South Carolina, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.