Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 71, NWS Charleston, SC

May 4, 1998Dorchester County, South Carolina

NWS Charleston, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 4, 1998, 3:05 PM EDT for Dorchester County, South Carolina. It was in force for 50 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 4, 1998, 3:05 PM EDT (19:05 UTC)
Expired: May 4, 1998, 3:55 PM EDT
In force: 50 min
Issued by: NWS Charleston, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Dorchester County, SC

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:06 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 4, 3:14 PM EDT	Hail 1	Summerville, SC
May 4, 3:50 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	Summerville, SC

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 4, 12:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 43 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1443 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 85 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 11 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCHS 041905 RRA
SVRCHS
SCC035-041955-

BULLETIN...IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
305 PM EDT MON MAY 4 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN DORCHESTER COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 355 PM EDT

* AT 300 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF COLLETON...CHARLESTON
  AND DORCHESTER COUNTIES... MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  LADSON AT 320 PM EDT

DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY. GO INSIDE A STURDY
BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS!

TJR

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Charleston, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 4, 1:45 PM EDT, 1 hour 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 4, 1:45 PM EDT, 1 hour 20 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
145 PM EDT MON MAY 4 1998

WITH SEVERE WX ACTIVITY AGAIN THIS AFTN WL LEAVE FINE DETAILS OF FCST
TO NWSFOS. GENERALLY WL SEE DRY TRANQUIL WX RETURN THRU NEXT 2 DAYS.
SEVERE THREAT WL BE PRIMARILY NEXT FEW HRS 2-6 PM.

LAVIS

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 4, 1:31 PM EDT, 1 hour 34 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
131 PM EDT MON MAY 04 1998

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0130 PM    SYCAMORE                  SC   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/04/98   ALLENDALE                      GOLF BALL HAIL. PUBLIC
                                          REPORT

Local storm report, May 4, 2:05 PM EDT, 1 hour before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
205 PM EDT MON MAY 04 1998

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0200 PM    GLENNVILLE                GA   .75 INCH HAIL
05/04/98   TATTNALL                       DISPATCH REPORT

Local storm report, May 4, 2:22 PM EDT, 43 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
222 PM EDT MON MAY 04 1998

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0215 PM    5 NE SUMMERVILLE          SC   .75 INCH HAIL
05/04/98   BERKELEY                       DIME HAIL. SPOTTER REPORT

Local storm report, May 4, 2:27 PM EDT, 38 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
227 PM EDT MON MAY 04 1998

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0200 PM    2 E GLENNVILLE            GA   .88 INCH HAIL
05/04/98   TATTNALL                       NICKEL HAIL. SPOTTER
                                          REPORT

Local storm report, May 4, 2:48 PM EDT, 17 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
248 PM EDT MON MAY 04 1998

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0210 PM    SUMMERVILLE               SC   .75 INCH HAIL
05/04/98   DORCHESTER                     DIME HAIL NR OLD
                                          ORANGEBURG RD. DISPATCH
                                          REPORT

Local storm report, May 4, 2:57 PM EDT, 8 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
257 PM EDT MON MAY 04 1998

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0225 PM    ELLABELL                  GA   1 INCH HAIL
05/04/98   BRYAN                          QUARTER SIZE HAIL DISPATCH
                                          REPORT

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 3, 11:36 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Jasper	59 min
May 3, 11:36 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Beaufort	59 min
May 4, 12:34 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Charleston, Colleton	61 min
May 4, 1:23 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Allendale	32 min
May 4, 1:48 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Berkeley	47 min
May 4, 2:03 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Dorchester	47 min
May 4, 2:51 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Berkeley	49 min
May 4, 3:02 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Colleton	33 min
May 4, 3:29 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Charleston	46 min
May 4, 3:41 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CHS	Charleston	34 min
May 4, 3:53 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Berkeley	62 min
May 4, 4:12 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Charleston	63 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 1998 Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.