Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 14, NWS Wilmington, NC

March 20, 1998Marion County, South Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 20, 1998, 8:42 PM EST for Marion County, South Carolina. It was in force for 28 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: Mar 20, 1998, 8:42 PM EST (01:42 UTC)
Expired: Mar 20, 1998, 9:10 PM EST
In force: 28 min
Issued by: NWS Wilmington, NC
Area: Whole counties

County Marion County, SC

The radar

The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:42 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
Mar 20, 9:00 PM EST	Hail 1	Smithboro, SC	REPORTED BY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

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
Mar 20, 7:00 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 144 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: 1353 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -19 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 727 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 71 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 267 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 206 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 2.4
Supercell composite: 10.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

532 
WUUS1 KILM 210143 RRA
SVRILM
SCC067-210210-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
842 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON NC HAS ISSUED A...

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...

  MARION COUNTY IN NORTHEASTERN SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 910 PM EST

* AT 837 PM EST... DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
  WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL 24 MILES EAST OF FLORENCE OR 3
  MILES SOUTHWEST OF SMITHBORO MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

* THIS STORM WILL BE IN THE VICINITY OF...

        MARION                  BY 850 PM EST
        MULLINS                 BY 855 PM EST
        NICHOLS                 BY 905 PM EST


A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN
PRODUCE TORNADOES.

DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...HEAVY RAIN...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE
EXPECTED. SEEK SHELTER IN A STRONG BUILDING AWAY FROM WINDOWS. DO
NOT USE TELEPHONES OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNTIL THE STORM HAS
PASSED...EXCEPT IN AN EMERGENCY. MOTORISTS SHOULD AVOID FLOODED
ROADWAYS.

GROH/HEWITT

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 Wilmington, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Mar 20, 8:37 PM EST, 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 20, 8:37 PM EST, 5 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
837 PM EST THU MAR 20 1998

DISC:  CHRISTMAS COMES TO PORTIONS OF NE SC AS HAIL COVERING THE
GROUND ALONG I-95 FROM STORM.  LINE OF SEVERE STORMS CONTINUES
FROM LBT TO FLO AND SLOWLY TREKKING EASTWARD. EXPECT IT TO DIE AS
IT MOVES CLOSER TO THE MARINE INFLUENCE ON THE COAST.
INSTABILITIES OF -5 TO -6 SEEN ON EVENING SOUNDINGS SHOW THAT AHEAD
OF FRONT LIFT IS SUFFICIENT TO CONTINUE CONVECTION.  LOW LEVEL
WINDS CONTINUE TO BE UNIDIRECTIONAL WITH 40 KNOTS SEEN AT 1000 FEET
WHICH HAS PRODUCED SEVERAL SPLITTING CELLS THIS EVENING.
ALSO...SLOW MOVEMENT OF LINE IS INCREASING FFW POSSIBILITIES NEXT
FEW HOURS.

FCST LOOKS FINE...AND HAVE MAINTAINED THE CWF FROM PREVIOUS
FORECAST.

HAWKINS

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 20, 6:33 PM EST, 2 hours 9 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA
633 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998

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

0542 PM    MAXTON                    NC   WIND DAMAGE
03/20/98   ROBESON                        ROOF DAMAGED ON HIGHWAY
                                          1310

DRH

Local storm report, Mar 20, 7:09 PM EST, 1 hour 33 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA
709 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998

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

0705 PM    TIMMONSVILLE              SC   .75 INCH HAIL
03/20/98   FLORENCE                       REPORTED BY POLICE

Local storm report, Mar 20, 7:21 PM EST, 1 hour 21 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA
721 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998

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

0710 PM    SOCIETY HILL              SC   1.75 INCH HAIL
03/20/98   DARLINGTON

0715 PM    HARTSVILLE                SC   1 INCH HAIL
03/20/98   DARLINGTON

0715 PM    FLORENCE                  SC   1 INCH HAIL
03/20/98   FLORENCE

Local storm report, Mar 20, 7:44 PM EST, 58 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA
744 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998

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

0740 PM    WALLACE                   SC   .75 INCH HAIL
03/20/98   MARLBORO                       SKYWARN REPORTS OF HAIL AT
                                          WALLACE THROUGH 15 MILES
                                          EAST

Local storm report, Mar 20, 7:57 PM EST, 45 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA
757 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998

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

0753 PM    OAK GROVE                 SC   .75 INCH HAIL
03/20/98   DILLON                         911 CENTER REPORTED HAIL
                                          AND STRONG WIND

Local storm report, Mar 20, 8:42 PM EST, 0 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NORTH CAROLINA
842 PM EST FRI MAR 20 1998

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

0825 PM    PEEDEE                    SC   .75 INCH HAIL
03/20/98   MARION

The office that day

Everything else NWS Wilmington, NC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 20, 7:15 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Marlboro	45 min
Mar 20, 7:31 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Dillon	39 min
Mar 20, 7:42 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Florence	33 min
Mar 20, 8:07 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Marion	33 min
Mar 20, 8:19 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Dillon	36 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.