Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 188

April 23, 199714 counties in South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 23, 1997, 1:00 AM EDT for 14 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Apr 23, 1997, 1:00 AM EDT (05:00 UTC)
Expired: Apr 23, 1997, 4:00 AM EDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Allendale County, SC, Bamberg County, SC, Barnwell County, SC, Beaufort County, SC, Berkeley County, SC, Charleston County, SC, Colleton County, SC, Dorchester County, SC, Georgetown County, SC, Hampton County, SC, Horry County, SC, Jasper County, SC, Orangeburg County, SC, Williamsburg County, SC

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 78 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:00 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.

Warnings issued inside it

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 23, 1:15 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Bamberg, Orangeburg	30 min

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 00:00Z, 5.0 hours before the alert went out and 25 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.

321 
WWUS9 KMKC 230431
SEL8  
MKC WW 230431
SCZ000-230800-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 188
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1231 AM EDT WED APR 23 1997

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

   CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SOUTH CAROLINA                     
   AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING FROM 100 AM UNTIL 400 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 75 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA TO
80 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO WATCH
NUMBER 184...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 185.  WATCH NUMBER 184...185 WILL
NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 100 AM EDT.  CONTINUE...WW 169...WW 170...WW
171...WW 172...

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...IMPRESSIVE VERTICAL SHEAR CONTINUES TO EXIST IN
TROPICAL AIR S OF OUTFLOW BOUNDARY ORIENTED RUFLY ENE/WSW ACROSS S
CNTRL SC.  POTENTIAL FOR TORNADOES WILL PERSIST AS BAND OF 55-65 KT
MID LEVEL WINDS AND ASSOCIATED SQUALL LINE RACING EWD FROM GA
CONTINUE E TO THE SC COAST.  CHARLESTON SC VWP DATA SHOWS 35 KT SW
FLOW NR THE SURFACE VEERING TO 90 KT WSW FLOW AT 700 MB.  

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 25050.


...CORFIDI

331,0813 335,0785 321,0782 313,0805

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 22, 9:00 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Allendale, Bamberg, Beaufort, Berkeley, Calhoun, Charleston and 18 more	4 hr
Apr 22, 11:00 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Jasper	5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in South 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.