Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 26, NWS Columbia, SC

September 8, 1998Lancaster County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this tornado warning at Sep 8, 1998, 2:50 PM EDT for Lancaster County, South Carolina. It was in force for 25 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
Sep 8, 1998, 2:50 PM EDT (18:50 UTC)
Expired
Sep 8, 1998, 3:15 PM EDT
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS Columbia, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Lancaster County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:50 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
Sep 8, 3:07 PM EDTHail 1.75Heath Spgs, SCSheriff reported golf ball size hail and a funnel cloud.

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
Sep 8, 1:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 171 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1998-09-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 484 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 1998-09-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 40 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
484 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-53 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1483 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
43 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

742 
WFUS1 KCAE 081851 RRA
TORCAE
SCC057-081915-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
250 PM EDT TUE SEP 8 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA SC HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 315 PM EDT 

* AT 237 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED 
  A TORNADO IN SOUTHEAST CHESTER COUNTY MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 
  40 MPH. THIS STORM WILL MOVE BETWEEN GREAT FALLS AND HEATH 
  SPRINGS AT AROUND 315 PM.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU ARE IN 
ITS PATH. 

SJN/MWC

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 8, 3:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAENewberry42 min
Sep 8, 3:07 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEKershaw53 min
Sep 8, 3:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAERichland41 min
Sep 8, 3:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAESumter38 min
Sep 8, 4:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAESumter48 min
Sep 8, 5:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEClarendon50 min
Sep 8, 6:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEOrangeburg31 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.