Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 188, NWS Columbia, SC
NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 18, 1998, 5:55 PM EDT for Aiken County, South Carolina. It was in force for 35 min. 2 reports 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
- Aug 18, 1998, 5:55 PM EDT (21:55 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 18, 1998, 6:30 PM EDT
- In force
- 35 min
- Issued by
- NWS Columbia, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Aiken County, SC
The radar
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 66 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:54 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 18, 6:25 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 55 | Bath, SC | Sheriff reported several trees down, one on a home on Henderson Street. |
| Aug 18, 6:39 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 55 | Aiken, SC | Sheriff reported several trees down on Coleman's bridge. |
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
Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 266 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
- 1334 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -49 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 989 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 10 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -3 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 15 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
359 WUUS1 KCAE 182159 RRA SVRCAE SCC003-182230- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 555 PM EDT TUE AUG 18 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA SC HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN AIKEN COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA * UNTIL 630 PM EDT * AT 553 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 8 MILES NORTHWEST OF AIKEN. THE STORM WAS MOVING TOWARD THE EAST-SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... AIKEN AT 609 PM EDT COUCHTOWN AT 636 PM EDT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH... DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. RCC
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, Aug 18, 5:54 PM EDT, 1 minute before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
554 PM EDT TUE AUG 18 1998
TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST ...EVENT/REMARKS...
.....COUNTY LOCATION.....
540 PM 2 S THOMPSON GA .75 INCH HAIL
08/18/98 MCDUFFIE 911 CENTER TO ATLANTA
FORECAST OFFICE. SHED
BLOWN OVER AND DIME SIZE
HAIL.
543 PM 5 SW AUGUSTA GA .88 INCH HAIL
08/18/98 RICHMOND 911 CENTER THROUGH ATLANTA
FORECAST OFFICE. NICKEL
SIZE HAIL.
LCVThe office that day
Everything else NWS Columbia, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 18, 6:29 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Aiken | 31 min |
| Aug 18, 6:55 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Barnwell | 35 min |
| Aug 18, 7:10 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Aiken | 35 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.