Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 16, NWS Columbia, SC

March 20, 1998Chesterfield County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 20, 1998, 7:17 PM EST for Chesterfield County, South Carolina. It was in force for 43 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, 7:17 PM EST (00:17 UTC)
Expired: Mar 20, 1998, 8:00 PM EST
In force: 43 min
Issued by: NWS Columbia, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Chesterfield County, SC

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Mar 20, 7:30 PM EST	Hail 1	Cheraw, SC	Sheriff reported 1 inch hail in Cheraw.

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 nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 162 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: 486 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -41 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 840 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 64 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 82 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 123 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.2
Supercell composite: 1.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

149 
WUUS1 KCAE 210022
SVRCAE
SCC025-085-210100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
717 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN  SOUTH CAROLINA

   ...EASTERN CHESTERFIELD COUNTY...EASTERN SUMTER COUNTY

AT 715 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
EXTENDING FROM JUST SOUTHEAST OF SUMTER TO THE SHILOH AREA IN SUMTER
COUNTY. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

MORE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF PATRICK IN
CHESTERFIELD COUNTY. MOVEMENT WAS ALSO NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH AND TOWARD
THE CHERAW AREA.


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.  DONT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

AMATEUR RADIO AND OTHER SPOTTERS ARE REQUESTED TO MONITOR THIS
STORM AND RELAY REPORTS PROMPTLY TO THE NEAREST NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.

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.





CORRECTED TIME IN TEXT.

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, 52 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.

CDL

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 20, 7:17 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Sumter	43 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 1998 Every 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.