Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 27, NWS Charleston, SC

September 3, 1998Colleton County, South Carolina

NWS Charleston, SC issued this tornado warning at Sep 3, 1998, 8:40 AM EDT for Colleton County, South Carolina. It was in force for 30 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
Sep 3, 1998, 8:40 AM EDT (12:40 UTC)
Expired
Sep 3, 1998, 9:10 AM EDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Colleton County, SC

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 42 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:39 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
Sep 3, 8:45 AM EDTTornado F1Bennetts Pt, SCTornado damage was confined mostly to wooded marsh area which uprooted or snapped off trees.
Sep 3, 9:14 AM EDTThunderstorm Wind 55Central Portion, SCNumerous trees and power lines 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 nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 61 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1998-09-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 182 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 1998-09-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 288 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 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
182 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-31 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
528 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
288 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
433 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

990 
WFUS1 KCHS 031239 RRA
TORCHS
SCC029-031310-

BULLETIN...EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
840 AM EDT THU SEP 3 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN COASTAL COLLETON COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 910 AM EDT

* AT 840 AM... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO OVER ST HELENA SOUND...MOVING NORTH AT 35 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  BENNETTS ISLAND AND BEAR ISLAND NEAR THE END OF STATE ROUTE 26 AT
  845 AM.

IF YOU ARE IN THEPATH OF THIS STORM...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM
AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

RVT/SLB

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 3, 6:33 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSJasper47 min
Sep 3, 6:33 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSBeaufort47 min
Sep 3, 8:16 AM EDTTornado WarningCHSBeaufort49 min
Sep 3, 10:28 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSCharleston47 min
Sep 3, 11:33 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSJasper32 min
Sep 3, 12:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSHampton36 min
Sep 3, 1:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSBerkeley50 min
Sep 3, 1:09 PM EDTTornado WarningCHSBerkeley46 min
Sep 3, 1:21 PM EDTTornado WarningCHSColleton49 min
Sep 3, 1:49 PM EDTTornado WarningCHSDorchester46 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.