Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Charleston, SC

May 10, 1998Berkeley County, South Carolina

NWS Charleston, SC issued this tornado warning at May 10, 1998, 5:00 PM EDT for Berkeley County, South Carolina. It was in force for 60 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 10, 1998, 5:00 PM EDT (21:00 UTC)
Expired: May 10, 1998, 6:00 PM EDT
In force: 60 min
Issued by: NWS Charleston, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Berkeley County, SC

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 118 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:03 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 10, 5:25 PM EDT	Tornado F2	Ladson, SC	After two brief earler touchdowns in Dorchester County, the supercell crossed Interstate 26 into Berkeley County where the most extensive damage occurred. There were 442 homes damaged (17 destroyed, 113 major damage, and the remainder had minor damage. Areas h
May 10, 6:10 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Goose Creek, SC	Trees and powerlines down

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 10, 2:00 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 33 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: 315 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -133 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1032 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 75 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 51 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 138 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

477 
WFUS1 KCHS 102101 RRA
TORCHS
SCC015-102200-

BULLETIN...EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
500 PM EDT SUN MAY 10 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  BERKELEY COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 600 PM EDT

* AT 455 PM EDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
  A TORNADO NEAR RIDGEVILLE IN DORCHESTER COUNTY... MOVING SOUTHEAST
  AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  CYPRESS GARDENS BY 510 PM
  COOPER RIVER SOUTH OF MONCKS CORNER BY 545 PM

ABANDON MOBILE HOMES GO IN A NEARBY STURDY BUILDING. AS A LAST
RESORT LIE FLAT IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD.

SIMENSKY/BRUESKE

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 10, 3:03 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Jasper	62 min
May 10, 4:22 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Dorchester	63 min
May 10, 4:36 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Beaufort	34 min
May 10, 4:39 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CHS	Dorchester	46 min
May 10, 5:19 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CHS	Charleston	61 min
May 10, 6:00 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CHS	Berkeley	20 min
May 10, 6:10 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CHS	Charleston	40 min
May 10, 6:49 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CHS	Berkeley	61 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.