Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 98, NWS Columbia, SC

June 4, 1998Lexington County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 4, 1998, 7:09 PM EDT for Lexington County, South Carolina. It was in force for 51 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: Jun 4, 1998, 7:09 PM EDT (23:09 UTC)
Expired: Jun 4, 1998, 8:00 PM EDT
In force: 51 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 23:11 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
Jun 4, 7:15 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Lexington, SC	Utility company reported trees and powerlines down on highway 378.

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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jun 4, 1:45 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 11.2 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: 1522 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -100 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1198 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 84 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

414 
WUUS1 KCAE 042310 RRA
SVRCAE
SCC063-050000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
709 PM EDT THU JUN 4 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA SC HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 800 PM EDT 

* AT 707 PM...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE 
  THUNDERSTORM NEAR THE WESTERN LEXINGTON COUNTY ABOUT 7 MILES 
  NORTHWEST OF THE TOWN OF LEXINGTON. MOVEMENT WAS SOUTHEAST 
  AT 30 MPH. THIS STORM WILL PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  LEXINGTON AT 720 PM
  WEST COLUMBIA  AT 740 PM

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.

TTH/RJL

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, Jun 4, 2:55 PM EDT, 4 hours 14 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
255 PM EDT THU JUN 04 1998

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

250 PM     2 E LEXINGTON             SC   WIND DAMAGE
06/04/98   LEXINGTON                      SPOTTER REPORTS LARGE
                                          LIMBS DOWN ON HIGHWAY 378
                                          JUST EAST OF LEXINGTON

HG

Local storm report, Jun 4, 4:11 PM EDT, 2 hours 58 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
411 PM EDT THU JUN 04 1998

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

322 PM     BATESBURG                 SC   FLOODING
06/04/98   LEXINGTON                      HAM OPERATOR REPORTED
                                          STREET FLOODING OF 5-6
                                          INCHES OF WATER STANDING
                                          ON US1 4 MILES SOUTH OF
                                          BATESBURG

330 PM     LAKE MURRAY               SC   WIND DAMAGE
06/04/98   LEXINGTON                      HAM OPERATOR REPORTED WIND
                                          DAMAGE-LARGE LIMBS ON
                                          POWER LINES ON US378 IN
                                          LEXINGTON COUNTY 5 MILES
                                          EAST OF SALUDA COUNTY LINE

TTH

Local storm report, Jun 4, 4:36 PM EDT, 2 hours 33 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
436 PM EDT THU JUN 04 1998

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

343 PM     TRENTON                   SC   TORNADO
06/04/98   EDGEFIELD                      MOBILE SKYWARN SPOTTER
                                          REPORTED VISUAL SITING OF
                                          TORNADO TOUCHDOWN IN A
                                          FIELD OFF HWY19 NEAR
                                          TRENTON-NO DAMAGE

TTH

Local storm report, Jun 4, 5:59 PM EDT, 1 hour 10 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
559 PM EDT THU JUN 04 1998

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

550 PM     LANCASTER                 SC   .75 INCH HAIL
06/04/98   LANCASTER                      HAM OPERATOR REPORTED DIME
                                          SIZED HAIL ON THE HWY9
                                          BYPASS IN LANCASTER

TTH

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 4, 1:52 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Edgefield, Saluda	53 min
Jun 4, 2:02 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Barnwell	43 min
Jun 4, 2:21 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Saluda	39 min
Jun 4, 2:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Lexington	64 min
Jun 4, 3:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Clarendon	45 min
Jun 4, 3:34 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CAE	Edgefield	56 min
Jun 4, 5:41 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Barnwell	49 min
Jun 4, 5:54 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Bamberg	66 min
Jun 4, 6:49 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Saluda	26 min
Jun 4, 7:02 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CAE	Lancaster	28 min
Jun 4, 7:17 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Richland	58 min
Jun 4, 7:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Aiken	45 min
Jun 4, 7:38 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Sumter	67 min
Jun 4, 7:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Barnwell	30 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.