Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Watches in 1998

Tornado Watch 249

April 19, 19984 counties in Georgia; Robeson County, Scotland County, North Carolina; 19 counties in South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 19, 1998, 3:30 PM EDT for 4 counties in Georgia; Robeson County, Scotland County, North Carolina; 19 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Apr 19, 1998, 3:30 PM EDT (19:30 UTC)
Expired: Apr 19, 1998, 9:00 PM EDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 25 counties

Columbia County, GA, Lincoln County, GA, McDuffie County, GA, Warren County, GA, Robeson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Aiken County, SC, Calhoun County, SC, Chester County, SC, Chesterfield County, SC, Darlington County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Edgefield County, SC, Fairfield County, SC, Kershaw County, SC, Lancaster County, SC, Lee County, SC, Lexington County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, McCormick County, SC, Newberry County, SC, Orangeburg County, SC, Richland County, SC, Saluda County, SC, Sumter County, SC

Warnings issued inside it

1 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 19, 4:51 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Lexington, Newberry	39 min

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 171 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: 725 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -58 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 577 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 163 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 194 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.6
Supercell composite: 3.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

191 
WWUS9 KMKC 191913
SEL9  
MKC WW 191913
SCZ000-200100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 249
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
313 PM EDT SUN APR 19 1998

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   WESTERN AND CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA                     

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 330 PM UNTIL 900
PM EDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 70 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES SOUTHWEST OF COLUMBIA SOUTH CAROLINA TO 50
MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF FLORENCE SOUTH CAROLINA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 248...

DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS WILL INTENSIFY OVER WATCH AREA AS COLD
FRONT MOVES INTO REGION OF MOIST UNSTABLE AIR MASS. STRONG SPEED
SHEAR PRESENT PRESENT VIA 80 KT MID LEVEL FLOW AND THIS SHOULD
SUPPORT A FEW TORNADIC SUPERCELLS.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24040.


...ROGASH

332,0830 345,0811 345,0784 332,0803

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 18, 8:45 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Burke, Butts, Carroll and 58 more	6 hr
Apr 19, 3:00 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Alamance, Anson, Bertie, Cabarrus, Caswell, Chatham and 41 more	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 1998 Tornado Watches in Georgia, 1998 Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 1998 Every tornado watch 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.