Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Columbia, SC

May 7, 1998Edgefield County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this tornado warning at May 7, 1998, 8:07 PM EDT for Edgefield County, South Carolina. It was in force for 53 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
May 7, 1998, 8:07 PM EDT (00:07 UTC)
Expired
May 7, 1998, 9:00 PM EDT
In force
53 min
Issued by
NWS Columbia, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Edgefield County, SC

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 7, 8:12 PM EDTHail 1.75Edgefield, SCSKYWARN spotter reported golf ball size hail near SC highway 230.
May 7, 8:15 PM EDTTornado F3Edgefield, SCAn F3 tornado either destroyed or severely damaged around 60 homes and mobile homes and a church. One person was killed when her mobile home took a direct hit and was completely destroyed. Widespread trees were taken down.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 7, 5:00 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 207 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 00:00Z on 1998-05-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 909 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 00:00Z on 1998-05-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 145 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
909 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-107 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
990 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
145 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
248 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
5.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

602 
WFUS1 KCAE 080009 RRA
TORCAE
SCC037-080100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
807 PM EDT THU MAY 7 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA SC HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN EDGEFIELD COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 900 PM EDT 

* WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO MOVING 
  TOWARD SOUTHERN EDGEFIELD COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST 
  AROUND 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
   JUST SOUTH OF TRENTON AT 850 PM

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO TAKE COVER GO TO A SMALL 
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON 
CARS AND MOBILE HOMES.

LVCC

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 7, 8:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELexington85 min
May 7, 8:22 PM EDTTornado WarningCAEAiken53 min
May 7, 9:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEBamberg, Barnwell, Orangeburg65 min
May 7, 9:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEEdgefield67 min
May 7, 11:59 PM EDTTornado WarningCAEMcCormick31 min
May 8, 12:28 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEOrangeburg47 min
May 8, 2:15 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEFairfield45 min
May 8, 2:33 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELexington42 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.