Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 6, NWS Columbia, SC
NWS Columbia, SC issued this tornado warning at May 7, 1998, 7:10 PM EDT for Edgefield County, South Carolina. It was in force for 35 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, 7:10 PM EDT (23:10 UTC)
- Expired
- May 7, 1998, 7:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 35 min
- Issued by
- NWS Columbia, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Edgefield County, SC
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 7, 7:15 PM EDT | Tornado F3 | Edgefield, SC | An F3 tornado touched down near SC highway 61 and moved east to SC highway 36 taking down numerous trees and causing major and minor damage to several homes. |
| May 7, 7:47 PM EDT | Tornado F2 | Johnston, SC | An F2 tornado touched down west of Johnston and moved into the community just after 8 pm EDT causing major damage to several homes and businesses. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 7, 5:00 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 11.2 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 280 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -25 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 931 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 32 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 94 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 126 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 1.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
284 WFUS1 KCAE 072311 RRA TORCAE SCC037-072345- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 710 PM EDT THU MAY 7 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA SC HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... NORTHERN EDGEFIELD COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA * UNTIL 745 PM EDT * WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO OVER NORTHERN EDGEFIELD COUNTY NEAR HWY 283 IN NORTHWEST EDGEFIELD COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. PEOPLE ALONG HWY 283 SHOULD TAKE COVER. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH. LVCC
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
In the hours before
Local storm report, May 7, 1:44 PM EDT, 5 hours 26 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
144 PM EDT THU MAY 07 1998
TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST ...EVENT/REMARKS...
.....COUNTY LOCATION.....
120 PM 5 S WAYNESBORO GA .75 INCH HAIL
05/07/98 BURKE COUNTY DIRECTOR REPORTS
HAIL HIGHWAY 56
TASpecial weather statement, May 7, 3:15 PM EDT, 3 hours 55 minutes before
SCZ015-016-018-020-021-022-025-026-027-028-029-030-031- 035-036-037-038-041-GAZ040-063-064-065-077-072011- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 315 PM EDT THU MAY 7 1998 THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER HAS DIMINISHED IN PART OF THE WATCH AREA. THE WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE COLUMBIA COUNTY WARNING AREA: AIKEN BAMBERG BARNWELL BURKE CALHOUN CHESTERFIELD CLARENDON COLUMBIA EDGEFIELD FAIRFIELD KERSHAW LANCASTER LEE LEXINGTON LINCOLN MCCORMICK MCDUFFIE NEWBERRY ORANGEBURG RICHLAND RICHMOND SALUDA SUMTER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO CROSS THE EASTERN MIDLANDS THROUGH 5 PM...BUT NO SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED. LM
Special weather statement, May 7, 3:15 PM EDT, 3 hours 55 minutes before
SCZ015-016-018-020-021-022-025-026-027-028-029-030-031- 035-036-037-038-041-GAZ040-063-064-065-077-072011- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 315 PM EDT THU MAY 7 1998 THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER HAS DIMINISHED IN PART OF THE WATCH AREA. THE WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE COLUMBIA COUNTY WARNING AREA: AIKEN BAMBERG BARNWELL BURKE CALHOUN CHESTERFIELD CLARENDON COLUMBIA EDGEFIELD FAIRFIELD KERSHAW LANCASTER LEE LEXINGTON LINCOLN MCCORMICK MCDUFFIE NEWBERRY ORANGEBURG RICHLAND RICHMOND SALUDA SUMTER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO CROSS THE EASTERN MIDLANDS THROUGH 5 PM...BUT NO SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED. LM
Special weather statement, May 7, 3:42 PM EDT, 3 hours 28 minutes before
SCZ015-016-018-020-021-022-025-026-027-028-029-030-031-035- 036-037-038-041-GAZ040-063-064-065-077-080000- THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 342 PM EDT THU MAY 7 1998 THE OUTLOOK PERTAINS TO THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTH CAROLINA: AIKEN BAMBERG BARNWELL CALHOUN CHESTERFIELD CLARENDON EDGEFIELD FAIRFIELD KERSHAW LANCASTER LEE LEXINGTON MCCORMICK NEWBERRY ORANGEBURG RICHLAND SALUDA SUMTER THE OUTLOOK PERTAINS TO THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN GEORGIA: BURKE COLUMBIA LINCOLN MCDUFFIE RICHMOND AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE APPROACHING THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHERN GEORGIA LATE THIS AFTERNOON WILL BE ACCOMPANIED BY A STRONG UPPER LEVEL FLOW. IN THE LOWER LEVELS, THE AIRMASS IS ALREADY UNSTABLE AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING FRONT. THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING WEST OF THE STATE THIS AFTERNOON ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA AND THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA OF GEORGIA THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. THE SEVERE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN...DAMAGING HAIL TO 2 INCHES AND WIND GUST TO 60 MPH. A FEW TORNADOES ARE ALSO POSSIBLE WITH THE MOST INTENSE STORMS. EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS OFFICIALS ARE REQUESTED TO REMAIN ALERT AND MAKE PRELIMINARY PLANS TO DEAL WITH SEVERE WEATHER SHOULD IT OCCUR. SEVERE WEATHER SPOTTERS...INCLUDING AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS... SHOULD MONITOR THIS WEATHER SITUATION AND RELAY REPORTS PROMPTLY TO THE NEAREST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE. LM
Local storm report, May 7, 6:35 PM EDT, 35 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
635 PM EDT THU MAY 07 1998
TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST ...EVENT/REMARKS...
.....COUNTY LOCATION.....
634 PM MCCORMICK SC 1.75 INCH HAIL
05/07/98 MCCORMICK PUBLIC REPORTS QUARTER TO
GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL
TTHThe office that day
Everything else NWS Columbia, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 7, 6:29 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | McCormick | 61 min |
| May 7, 6:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Edgefield | 61 min |
| May 7, 6:58 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Saluda | 62 min |
| May 7, 7:29 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | McCormick | 61 min |
| May 7, 7:46 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Edgefield, Saluda | 29 min |
| May 7, 7:57 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | McCormick | 33 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.