Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Columbia, SC

May 7, 1998McCormick County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this tornado warning at May 7, 1998, 7:57 PM EDT for McCormick County, South Carolina. It was in force for 33 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, 7:57 PM EDT (23:57 UTC)
Expired
May 7, 1998, 8:30 PM EDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Columbia, SC
Area
Whole counties

County McCormick County, SC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 110 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:56 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
May 7, 8:03 PM EDTTornado F0Clarks Hill, SCAn F0 tornado took down trees at Clarks Hill Recreation Area.
May 7, 8:10 PM EDTHail 0.88Clarks Hill, SCSKYWARN spotter reported nickel size hail.

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

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 12.0 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 1998-05-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 650 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 1998-05-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 193 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
650 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-129 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
521 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
68 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
193 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
5 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-3.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

534 
WFUS1 KCAE 072358
TORCAE
SCC065-080030-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA SC HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 830 PM EDT 

* WEATHER SEVICE RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO OVER EXTREME EASDTERN 
  LINCOLN COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TOWARD THE SOUTHERN 
  PORTION OF  CLARKS HILL LAKE. THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST AROUND 
  30 MPH TOWARD MODOC.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  CLARKS HILL AT 815 PM
  MODOC AT 815 PM

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

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 7, 6:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEMcCormick61 min
May 7, 6:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEEdgefield61 min
May 7, 6:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAESaluda62 min
May 7, 7:10 PM EDTTornado WarningCAEEdgefield35 min
May 7, 7:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEMcCormick61 min
May 7, 7:46 PM EDTTornado WarningCAEEdgefield, Saluda29 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.