Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 185

April 22, 1997Effingham County, Georgia; Columbus County, North Carolina; 24 counties in South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 22, 1997, 9:00 PM EDT for Effingham County, Georgia; Columbus County, North Carolina; 24 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Apr 22, 1997, 9:00 PM EDT (01:00 UTC)
Expired: Apr 23, 1997, 1:00 AM EDT
In force: 4 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 26 counties

Effingham County, GA, Columbus County, NC, Allendale County, SC, Bamberg County, SC, Beaufort County, SC, Berkeley County, SC, Calhoun County, SC, Charleston County, SC, Chesterfield County, SC, Clarendon County, SC, Colleton County, SC, Darlington County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Dorchester County, SC, Florence County, SC, Georgetown County, SC, Hampton County, SC, Horry County, SC, Jasper County, SC, Kershaw County, SC, Lee County, SC, Marion County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, Orangeburg County, SC, Sumter County, SC, Williamsburg County, SC

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 73 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:03 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.

Warnings issued inside it

13 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 22, 9:28 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Bamberg, Orangeburg	62 min
Apr 22, 9:28 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Calhoun, Richland	62 min
Apr 22, 9:47 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CAE	Clarendon	28 min
Apr 22, 9:54 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Florence	61 min
Apr 22, 10:09 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Sumter	51 min
Apr 22, 10:12 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Clarendon	63 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 22, 11:13 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	ILM	Horry, Marion	32 min
Apr 23, 12:57 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Allendale	63 min

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 45 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.

030 
WWUS9 KMKC 230032
SEL5  
MKC WW 230032
SCZ000-230500-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 185
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
832 PM EDT TUE APR 22 1997

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR ALL OR PORTIONS OF

   CENTRAL AND EASTERN SOUTH CAROLINA                     
   AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING FROM 900 PM
UNTIL 100 AM EDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 3/4 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES EITHER SIDE OF
A LINE FROM 30 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF SAVANNAH GEORGIA TO 30 MILES
NORTH NORTHEAST OF FLORENCE SOUTH CAROLINA.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 181...WW 182...WW
183...WW 184...

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

DISCUSSION...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH ISOLD TORNADOES LIKELY THIS
EVENING OVER CENTRAL AND ERN SC...WHERE ACTIVITY BNDRY FROM EARLIER
ACTVTY WILL SERVE AS FOCUS FOR NEW DEVELOPMENT.  INCREASING MID
LEVEL WIND FIELD ASSOCIATED WITH SPEED MAX NOW OVER THE WRN GULF
COAST STATES SUGGESTS THAT SEVERE POTENTIAL WILL CONTINUE WELL INTO
THE NIGHT...AND SHIFT SLOWLY SWD/EWD WITH TIME.   
 
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 3/4 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
450.  MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26040.


...CORFIDI

321,0814 345,0802 341,0783 313,0794

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 22, 10:00 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Baker, Calhoun, Chattahoochee, Clay, Decatur, Dougherty and 18 more	6 hr
Apr 22, 11:00 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bleckley and 49 more	5 hr
Apr 23, 3:00 AM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Berrien, Brantley, Brooks and 24 more	6 hr
Apr 23, 1:00 AM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston and 8 more	3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 1997 Tornado Watches in Georgia, 1997 Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 1997 Every tornado watch 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.