Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Columbia, SC

March 20, 1998Lee County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 20, 1998, 3:51 PM EST for Lee County, South Carolina. It was in force for 39 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
Mar 20, 1998, 3:51 PM EST (20:51 UTC)
Expired
Mar 20, 1998, 4:30 PM EST
In force
39 min
Issued by
NWS Columbia, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Lee County, SC

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Mar 20, 3:00 PM ESTTornado WatchSPC4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 142 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 12:00Z on 1998-03-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.1000850700500300200100-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1998-03-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 18 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
5217 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
18 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
50 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCAE 202051 RRA
SVRCAE
SCC061-202130-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
351 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  430 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...LEE COUNTY
 
AT 348 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A THUNDERSTORM THAT WAS
LIKELY SEVERE JUST SOUTHWEST OF BISHOPVILLE. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT
40 MPH. THE BISHOPVILLE AREA AND THE AREA JUST NORTH OF BISHOPVILLE ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS THUNDERSTORM.
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
THESE WINDS BLOW DOWN TREES...POWER LINES...AND SEVERELY DAMAGE
MOBILE HOMES.  FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR.  DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.
 
AMATEUR RADIO AND OTHER SPOTTERS ARE REQUESTED TO MONITOR THIS
STORM AND RELAY REPORTS PROMPTLY TO THE NEAREST NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.
 
JL/TA

The office that day

Everything else NWS Columbia, SC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 20, 2:18 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELancaster27 min
Mar 20, 6:22 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAESumter38 min
Mar 20, 6:28 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELee32 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 1998Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1998

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.