Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Charleston, SC

April 9, 1998Bryan County, Bulloch County, Effingham County, Georgia

NWS Charleston, SC issued this tornado warning at Apr 9, 1998, 5:51 AM EDT for Bryan County, Bulloch County, Effingham County, Georgia. It was in force for 34 min. 1 report 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: Apr 9, 1998, 5:51 AM EDT (09:51 UTC)
Expired: Apr 9, 1998, 6:25 AM EDT
In force: 34 min
Issued by: NWS Charleston, SC
Area: Whole counties

Counties Bryan County, GA, Bulloch County, GA, Effingham County, GA

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 62 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:52 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
Apr 9, 6:05 AM EDT	Tornado F2	Eden, GA	The Bryan County tornado crossed the county line and weakened as it moved into a less populated area. Once the tornado moved east of GA State Road 17, it lifted. There were no further reports of damage or touchdowns from the parent supercell until the F1 tou

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
Apr 9, 2:30 AM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 00:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 158 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: 942 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 176 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 320 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 090951 RRA
TORCHS
GAC029-031-103-091025-

BULLETIN...EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
551 AM EDT THU APR 9 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EXTREME NORTHERN BRYAN COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN GEORGIA
  EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN BULLOCH COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN GEORGIA
  SOUTHERN EFFINGHAM COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN GEORGIA

* UNTIL 625 AM EDT

* AT 545... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO ALONG THE BULLOCH AND BRYAN COUNTY LINE.... MOVING
  NORTHEAST NEAR 50 MPH..

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  NEAR EDEN AND BLITCHTON BY 6 AM
  AT RINCON BY 615 AM

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SAFETY IN A NEARBY STURDY
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT... SEEK REFUGE IN A CULVERT...
DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS. BEWARE
THE THREAT OF RISING WATER.

MJL/MJL

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 9, 3:11 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Long	49 min
Apr 9, 6:19 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	CHS	Long, Tattnall	31 min
Apr 9, 6:33 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	CHS	Liberty, Long	32 min
Apr 9, 6:56 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Bryan, Chatham	34 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Georgia, 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.