Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Columbia, SC

March 8, 1998Clarendon County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this tornado warning at Mar 8, 1998, 2:04 PM EST for Clarendon County, South Carolina. It was in force for 41 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
Mar 8, 1998, 2:04 PM EST (19:04 UTC)
Expired
Mar 8, 1998, 2:45 PM EST
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Columbia, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Clarendon County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 89 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:04 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, 2:18 PM ESTTornado F0Manning, SCThe F2 tornado near Vance jumped Lake Marion and briefly touced down near Coopers Landing breaking off a telephone pole and some trees.

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, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 88 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 081904 RRA
TORCAE
SCC027-081945-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
204 PM EST SUN MAR 8 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  245 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN  SOUTH CAROLINA
 
   ...CLARENDON COUNTY
 
AT 200 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LIKELY TORNADO 5
MILES EAST OF SANTEE NEAR LAKE MARION. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEASTWARD AT 40
MILES AN HOUR. THE I-95 AREA OF SOUTHERN CLARENDON COUNTY IS IN THE PATH
OF THIS STORM. THE STORM SHOULD BE OVER THE DAVIS STATION AREA AROUND
215 PM AND 5 MILES EAST OF MANNING AROUND 225 PM.
 
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM! SEEK SHELTER NOW!
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW
GROUND IF AVAILABLE.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY
FURNITURE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...OR CUSHIONS TO COVER
YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES.
 
AMATEUR RADIO AND OTHER SPOTTERS ARE REQUESTED TO MONITOR THIS
STORM AND RELAY REPORTS PROMPTLY TO THE NEAREST NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.
 
JL/CL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 8, 1:06 PM ESTTornado WarningCAEBamberg, Orangeburg69 min
Mar 8, 1:38 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAECalhoun37 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.