Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 44, NWS Columbia, SC
NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 17, 1998, 8:46 AM EDT for Richland County, South Carolina. It was in force for 59 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
- Apr 17, 1998, 8:46 AM EDT (12:46 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 17, 1998, 9:45 AM EDT
- In force
- 59 min
- Issued by
- NWS Columbia, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Richland County, SC
The radar
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 21 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:32 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.
The watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 17, 8:00 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 150 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
- 114 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -276 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 935 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 54 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 268 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 401 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
228 WUUS1 KCAE 171244 RRA SVRCAE SCC079-171345- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 846 AM EDT FRI APR 17 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA SC HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... NORTHERN RICHLAND COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA * UNTIL 945 AM EDT * A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED NEAR IRMO AT 840 AM MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... BLYTHEWOOD AT 900 AM SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS. 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. BLP
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
Special weather statement, Apr 17, 6:14 AM EDT, 2 hours 32 minutes before
SCZ015-016-018-020-021-022-025-026-027-028-029-030-031-035- 036-037-038-041-GAZ040-063-064-065-077-171813- THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 614 AM EDT FRI APR 17 1998 THE OUTLOOK PERTAINS TO THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTH CAROLINA: AIKEN BAMBERG BARNWELL CALHOUN CHESTERFIELD CLARENDON EDGEFIELD FAIRFIELD KERSHAW LANCASTER LEE LEXINGTON MCCORMICK NEWBERRY ORANGEBURG RICHLAND SALUDA SUMTER THE OUTLOOK PERTAINS TO THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN GEORGIA: BURKE COLUMBIA LINCOLN MCDUFFIE RICHMOND A SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT STRETCHING FROM WEST VIRGINIA SOUTHWESTWARD TO CENTRAL ALABAMA WILL STALL OUT ACROSS THE UPSTATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA TODAY. A WARM...MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS WILL REMAIN AHEAD OF THE FRONT. THIS INCLUDES THE MIDLANDS OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA OF GEORGIA. WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION THIS MORNING. ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS. THE STRONGEST STORMS WILL LIKLEY DEVELOP NORTH AND EAST OF COLUMBIA...FROM LANCASTER COUNTY SOUTHEAST ACROSS KERSHAW...SUMTER INTO CLARENDON COUNTY. EXPECT WIND GUSTS TO NEAR 40 MPH...RAINFALL AMOUNTS AROUND ONE INCH AND THE POSSIBILITY OF SMALL HAIL. CURRENT DATA DOES NOT FAVOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. THEREFORE...EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND SPOTTER ACTIVATION SHOULD NOT BE REQUIRED. HOWEVER...ALL THUNDERSTORMS CONTAIN DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. ALWAYS MOVE INDOORS DURING A THUNDERSTORM. LCV
Special weather statement, Apr 17, 6:14 AM EDT, 2 hours 32 minutes before
SCZ015-016-018-020-021-022-025-026-027-028-029-030-031-035- 036-037-038-041-GAZ040-063-064-065-077-171813- THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 614 AM EDT FRI APR 17 1998 THE OUTLOOK PERTAINS TO THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTH CAROLINA: AIKEN BAMBERG BARNWELL CALHOUN CHESTERFIELD CLARENDON EDGEFIELD FAIRFIELD KERSHAW LANCASTER LEE LEXINGTON MCCORMICK NEWBERRY ORANGEBURG RICHLAND SALUDA SUMTER THE OUTLOOK PERTAINS TO THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN GEORGIA: BURKE COLUMBIA LINCOLN MCDUFFIE RICHMOND A SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT STRETCHING FROM WEST VIRGINIA SOUTHWESTWARD TO CENTRAL ALABAMA WILL STALL OUT ACROSS THE UPSTATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA TODAY. A WARM...MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS WILL REMAIN AHEAD OF THE FRONT. THIS INCLUDES THE MIDLANDS OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA OF GEORGIA. WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION THIS MORNING. ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS. THE STRONGEST STORMS WILL LIKLEY DEVELOP NORTH AND EAST OF COLUMBIA...FROM LANCASTER COUNTY SOUTHEAST ACROSS KERSHAW...SUMTER INTO CLARENDON COUNTY. EXPECT WIND GUSTS TO NEAR 40 MPH...RAINFALL AMOUNTS AROUND ONE INCH AND THE POSSIBILITY OF SMALL HAIL. CURRENT DATA DOES NOT FAVOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. THEREFORE...EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND SPOTTER ACTIVATION SHOULD NOT BE REQUIRED. HOWEVER...ALL THUNDERSTORMS CONTAIN DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. ALWAYS MOVE INDOORS DURING A THUNDERSTORM. LCV
The office that day
Everything else NWS Columbia, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 17, 6:37 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Richland | 23 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.