Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Columbia, SC

March 8, 1998Bamberg County, Orangeburg County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this tornado warning at Mar 8, 1998, 1:06 PM EST for Bamberg County, Orangeburg County, South Carolina. It was in force for 69 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
Mar 8, 1998, 1:06 PM EST (18:06 UTC)
Expired
Mar 8, 1998, 2:15 PM EST
In force
69 min
Issued by
NWS Columbia, SC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Bamberg County, SC, Orangeburg County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:09 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
Mar 8, 1:20 PM ESTTornado F2Neeses, SCAn F2 tornado tracked along highway 4 near Pine Hill. It picked up 2 mobile homes, took them 35 ft into the air, and brought them down on top of a 35 ft by 75 ft cinder block building 30 yards away completely destroying the mobile homes and the building. Oth
Mar 8, 1:50 PM ESTTornado F2Vance, SCAn F2 tornado did major damage to a horse farm and race track. Several of the horses were injured. Debris from the horse farm was found as far as 3 miles away. Major damage was also done to a home and a couple of mobile homes. Minor damage was also done to a c

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, 6.1 hours before the alert went out and 99 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 1998-03-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 232 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1998-03-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 149 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
232 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
727 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
149 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
175 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCAE 081806 RRA
TORCAE
SCC009-075-081915-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
106 PM EST SUN MAR 8 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  215 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...BAMBERG COUNTY...ORANGEBURG COUNTY
 
AT 1255 PM A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY BAMBERG COUNTY SHERIFF NEAR OLAR.
IT IS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED
A POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST SOUTH OF NORWAY IN ORANGEBURG COUNTY AT 100 PM.
 
DO NOT STAY IN A CAR OR MOBILE HOME DURING A TORNADO.  CARS AND
MOBILE HOMES ARE EASILY TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE
CvAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR OR MOBILE HOME AND
GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER
IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.  BE ALERT FOR FLOODING OF LOW AREAS.
 
 
 
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 8, 1:38 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAECalhoun37 min
Mar 8, 2:04 PM ESTTornado WarningCAEClarendon41 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Carolina, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes 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.