Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 15, NWS Columbia, SC
NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 20, 1998, 6:28 PM EST for Lee County, South Carolina. It was in force for 32 min. 1 report 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
- Mar 20, 1998, 6:28 PM EST (23:28 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 20, 1998, 7:00 PM EST
- In force
- 32 min
- Issued by
- NWS Columbia, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lee County, SC
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 20, 6:45 PM EST | Hail 1 | Lynchburg, SC | Sheriff reported 1 inch hail in Lynchburg. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 20, 3:00 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 4 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
820 WUUS1 KCAE 202328 SVRCAE SCC061-210000- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 628 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH CAROLINA ...SOUTHERN LEE COUNTY AT 525 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 10 MILES WEST OF MAYESVILLE. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH AND TOWARD THE ELLIOTT AREA OF SOUTHERN LEE COUNTY. 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. TA/JL
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
In the hours before
Local storm report, Mar 20, 6:25 PM EST, 3 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
625 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998
TIME (EST) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST ...EVENT/REMARKS...
.....COUNTY LOCATION.....
621 PM 5 S SUMTER SC 1.00 INCH HAIL
03/20/98 SUMTER REPORTED BY SKYWARN
SPOTTER.
CDLThe office that day
Everything else NWS Columbia, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 20, 2:18 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Lancaster | 27 min |
| Mar 20, 3:51 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Lee | 39 min |
| Mar 20, 6:22 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Sumter | 38 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.