Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Columbia, SC

April 3, 1998McCormick County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this tornado warning at Apr 3, 1998, 9:12 PM EST for McCormick County, South Carolina. It was in force for 18 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: Apr 3, 1998, 9:12 PM EST (02:12 UTC)
Expired: Apr 3, 1998, 9:30 PM EST
In force: 18 min
Issued by: NWS Columbia, SC
Area: Whole counties

County McCormick County, SC

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 3, 9:15 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind 70	Mc Cormick, SC	A downburst took down a couple of trees around a home at the intersection of hwy 10 and secondary 51.

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
Apr 3, 4:00 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 211 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: 2522 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 530 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 151 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 270 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 676 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 34.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

816 
WFUS1 KCAE 040209 RRA
TORCAE
SCC065-040230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
912 PM EST FRI APR 3 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA SC HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN MCCORMICK COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 930 PM EST 

* THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS UPGRADED THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
  WARNING TO A TORNADO WARNING FOR NORTHERN MCCORMICK COUNTY. 
  RADAR INDICATES ROTATION IN THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN THE 
  MT. CARMEL AREA. THIS STORM IS MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH.

CTC

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 3, 9:01 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	McCormick	59 min
Apr 3, 9:36 PM EST	Tornado Warning	CAE	Edgefield, Saluda	39 min
Apr 3, 10:08 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Lexington, Newberry	67 min
Apr 3, 10:19 PM EST	Tornado Warning	CAE	Lexington	56 min
Apr 3, 10:32 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Richland	43 min
Apr 3, 11:04 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Aiken	56 min
Apr 3, 11:04 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Sumter	56 min
Apr 3, 11:45 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Barnwell	45 min
Apr 3, 11:55 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Bamberg	35 min

Nearby

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