Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 83, NWS Columbia, SC

May 17, 1998Sumter County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 1998, 5:57 PM EDT for Sumter County, South Carolina. It was in force for 33 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
May 17, 1998, 5:57 PM EDT (21:57 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 1998, 6:30 PM EDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Columbia, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Sumter County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 68 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:01 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
May 17, 6:07 PM EDTHail 0.75Sumter, SCSumter police report dime size hail on Pocalla road.

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, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 118 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 12:00Z on 1998-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 583 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 1998-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 86 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
583 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-175 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1278 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
86 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
126 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

014 
WUUS1 KCAE 172159 RRA
SVRCAE
SCC085-172230-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
557 PM EDT SUN MAY 17 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA SC HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN SUMTER COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 630 PM EDT 

* NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR  INDICATED A SEVERE 
  THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES WEST OF SHILOH MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.

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

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 4:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAERichland47 min
May 17, 7:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEOrangeburg41 min
May 17, 7:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEOrangeburg58 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.