Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 5, NWS Columbia, SC
NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 16, 1998, 7:00 AM EST for Aiken County, South Carolina. It was in force for 30 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
- Jan 16, 1998, 7:00 AM EST (12:00 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 16, 1998, 7:30 AM EST
- In force
- 30 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 12:02 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 16, 7:20 AM EST | Hail 0.75 | Aiken, SC | Highway Patrol reported a severe thunderstorm produced 3/4 inch hail along I-20. |
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 12:00Z, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 168 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
- 459 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 95 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 66 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 115 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
358 WUUS1 KCAE 161159 RRA SVRCAE SCC003-161230- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 700 AM EST FRI JAN 16 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 AM EST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH CAROLINA ...WESTERN AIKEN COUNTY AT 655 AM A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS 5 MILES NORTH OF THE CITY OF AIKEN AND MOVING NORTHEAST ALONG I-20. THIS STORM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE DAMAGING HAIL AS IT MOVES TOWARD LEXINGTON COUNTY. AMATEUR RADIO AND OTHER SPOTTERS ARE REQUESTED TO MONITOR THIS STORM AND RELAY REPORTS PROMPTLY TO THE NEAREST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.
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, Jan 16, 5:46 AM EST, 1 hour 14 minutes before
SCZ015-016-018-020-021-022-025-026-027-028-029-030-031-035- 036-037-038-041-GAZ040-063-064-065-077-161636- THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 546 AM EST FRI JAN 16 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 AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE...OVER ALABAMA EARLY THIS MORNING...WILL CONTINUE MOVING NORTHEASTWARD TODAY. THIS SYSTEM IS VERY COLD IN THE MIDDLE LEVELS...AND WILL PRODUCE AN UNSTABLE AIRMASS ACROSS THE AREA THIS MORNING INTO THE EARLY AFTERNOON. THE DISTURBANCE IS EXPECTED TO MOVE OFFSHORE THIS AFTERNOON. SCATTERED TO WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA EARLY AND SPREAD NORTHEASTWARD THROUGH THE MORNING. THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE WIND GUST TO 35 MPH...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND SMALL HAIL. CURRENT DATA DOES NOT FAVOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. THEREFORE...EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND SPOTTER ACTIVATION SHOULD NOT BE REQUIRED. CDL
Special weather statement, Jan 16, 5:46 AM EST, 1 hour 14 minutes before
SCZ015-016-018-020-021-022-025-026-027-028-029-030-031-035- 036-037-038-041-GAZ040-063-064-065-077-161636- THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 546 AM EST FRI JAN 16 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 AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE...OVER ALABAMA EARLY THIS MORNING...WILL CONTINUE MOVING NORTHEASTWARD TODAY. THIS SYSTEM IS VERY COLD IN THE MIDDLE LEVELS...AND WILL PRODUCE AN UNSTABLE AIRMASS ACROSS THE AREA THIS MORNING INTO THE EARLY AFTERNOON. THE DISTURBANCE IS EXPECTED TO MOVE OFFSHORE THIS AFTERNOON. SCATTERED TO WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA EARLY AND SPREAD NORTHEASTWARD THROUGH THE MORNING. THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE WIND GUST TO 35 MPH...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND SMALL HAIL. CURRENT DATA DOES NOT FAVOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. THEREFORE...EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND SPOTTER ACTIVATION SHOULD NOT BE REQUIRED. CDL
The office that day
Everything else NWS Columbia, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 16, 10:06 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Chesterfield | 39 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.