Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 181, NWS Columbia, SC

July 19, 1998Lexington County, Richland County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 19, 1998, 11:31 PM EDT for Lexington County, Richland County, South Carolina. It was in force for 59 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
Jul 19, 1998, 11:31 PM EDT (03:31 UTC)
Expired
Jul 20, 1998, 12:30 AM EDT
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Columbia, SC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Lexington County, SC, Richland County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 3 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:35 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 19, 11:55 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Lexington, SCEPD reported trees down in Crystal Springs area.

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

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 00:00Z, 3.5 hours before the alert went out and 155 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 00:00Z on 1998-07-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3426 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-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 00:00Z on 1998-07-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -9 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
3426 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
642 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-9 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
63 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 200330
SVRCAE
SCC063-079-200430-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
1131 PM EDT SUN JUL 19 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA SC HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN LEXINGTON COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA
  SOUTHERN RICHLAND COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 1230 AM EDT

* AT 1128 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED 
  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES NORTH-NORTHEAST OF LEXINGTON. 
  THE STORM WAS MOVING TOWARD THE SOUTH AT 10 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  LEXINGTON AT 1152 PM EDT
  COLUMBIA METRO AIRPORT AT 1205 AM EDT
  COLUMBIA  AT 1205 AM EDT
  HOPKINS ArT 1215 AM EDT

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU ARE IN 
ITS PATH. INTENSE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN CAUSE AS MUCH DAMAGE 
AS SOME TORNADOES.

TTH/BC

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, Jul 19, 7:13 PM EDT, 4 hours 18 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
713 PM EDT SUN JUL 19 1998

TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

655 PM     9 S WINNSBORO             SC   WIND DAMAGE
07/19/98   FAIRFIELD                      FAIRFIELD COUNTY SHERIFF
                                          REPORTED 2 TREES DOWN
                                          ALONG US 321 1 MILE NORTH
 Z                                         OF RICHLAND COUNTY LINE

BC
Local storm report, Jul 19, 10:14 PM EDT, 1 hour 17 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
1014 PM EDT SUN JUL 19 1998

TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

945 PM     8 SSW LANCASTER           SC   WIND DAMAGE
07/19/98   LANCASTER                      LANCASTER COUNTY SHERIFF
                                          REPORTS NUMEROUS TREES AND
                                          POWER LINES DOWN

BC

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 19, 9:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELancaster32 min
Jul 19, 10:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEKershaw45 min
Jul 19, 10:26 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAENewberry34 min
Jul 19, 11:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELexington, Richland43 min
Jul 19, 11:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEAiken, Orangeburg63 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.