Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 52, NWS Columbia, SC

April 22, 1998Lexington County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 22, 1998, 3:54 PM EDT for Lexington County, South Carolina. It was in force for 66 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: Apr 22, 1998, 3:54 PM EDT (19:54 UTC)
Expired: Apr 22, 1998, 5:00 PM EDT
In force: 66 min
Issued by: NWS Columbia, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Lexington County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 15 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:57 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
Apr 22, 5:00 PM EDT	Hail 1.75	West Columbia, SC	TV 10 spotter reported golf ball size hail at the Lexington Medical Center near I26 and hwy 378.
Apr 22, 5:06 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	West Columbia, SC	SKYWARN spotter reported 3/4 inch hail at Oak Dr. and U.S.1.

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, 7.9 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1422 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 63 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -7 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.

117 
WUUS1 KCAE 221955 RRA
SVRCAE
SCC063-222100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
354 PM EDT WED APR 22 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA SC HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 500 PM EDT 

* WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN WESTERN 
  LEXINGTON COUNTY JUST SOUTH OF   BATESBURG AT 350 PM. MOVEMENT 
  WAS EAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  STEEDMAN AT 410 PM
  EDMOND-PELION AREA AT 425 PM

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 22, 2:22 PM EDT, 1 hour 32 minutes before

SCZ015-016-018-020-021-022-025-026-027-028-029-030-031-035-
036-037-038-041-GAZ040-063-064-065-077-230222-

THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
222 PM EDT WED APR 22 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

...ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE OVER CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA AND THE
CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA OF EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING. THIS WILL HELP TO DESTABLIZE THE ATMOSPHERE AND AID IN THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS. THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE FROM HAIL 3/4 TO
1 INCH IN SIZE. THESE STORMS COULD PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL AMOUNTS
OF AROUND 1 INCH WITH WIND GUSTS TO 30 MPH.

EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS OFFICIALS ARE REQUESTED TO REMAIN ALERT AND
MAKE PRELIMINARY PLANS TO DEAL WITH SEVERE WEATHER SHOULD IT OCCUR.
SEVERE WEATHER SPOTTERS...INCLUDING AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS...
SHOULD MONITOR THIS WEATHER SITUATION AND RELAY REPORTS PROMPTLY
TO THE NEAREST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.

TTH

Local storm report, Apr 22, 2:25 PM EDT, 1 hour 29 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
225 PM EDT WED APR 22 1998

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

223 PM     GROVETOWN                 GA   .75 INCH HAIL
04/22/98   RICHMOND                       DIME SIZE HAIL COVERING
                                          THE GROUND

225 PM     SOUTHERN COLUMBIA COUNTY  GA   .75 INCH HAIL
04/22/98   COLUMBIA                       DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED BY
                                          SPOTTER SCOTT SHERMAN

HG

Local storm report, Apr 22, 2:59 PM EDT, 55 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA, SC
259 PM EDT WED APR 22 1998

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

255 PM     AUGUSTA                   GA   .75 INCH HAIL
04/22/98   RICHMOND                       SEVERAL REPORTS OF DIME TO
                                          PEA SIZED HAIL IN AUGUSTA

TTH

Local storm report, Apr 22, 2:59 PM EDT, 55 minutes before

STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA, SC
259 PM EDT WED APR 22 1998

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

255 PM     AUGUSTA                   GA   .75 INCH HAIL
04/22/98   RICHMOND                       SEVERAL REPORTS OF DIME TO
                                          PEA SIZED HAIL IN AUGUSTA

TTH

Local storm report, Apr 22, 3:06 PM EDT, 48 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
306 PM EDT WED APR 22 1998

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

258 PM     NORTH AUGUSTA             SC   .75 INCH HAIL
04/22/98   AIKEN                          PUBLIC REPORT

305 PM     CLEARWATER                SC   .75 INCH HAIL
04/22/98   AIKEN                          PEA TO DIME SIZED HAIL

TTH

Local storm report, Apr 22, 3:29 PM EDT, 25 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
329 PM EDT WED APR 22 1998

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

325 PM     7 S AIKEN                 SC   .88 INCH HAIL
04/22/98   AIKEN                          HAM SPOTTER REPORTED
                                          NICKEL SIZE HAIL NEAR
                                          INTERSECTION OF ROUTE 302
                                          AND US 278

330 PM     2 E AIKEN                 SC   .88 INCH HAIL
04/22/98   AIKEN                          HAM SPOTTER REPORTED
                                          NICKEL HAIL AT THE
                                          INTERSECTION OF ROUTE
                                          302AND US 78.

AWP

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 22, 2:42 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Aiken	63 min
Apr 22, 3:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Saluda	64 min
Apr 22, 5:12 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Lexington, Richland	33 min
Apr 22, 6:44 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Chesterfield	46 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.