Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 1999
Tornado Warning 5, NWS Columbia, SC
NWS Columbia, SC issued this tornado warning at Apr 15, 1999, 5:52 PM EDT for Aiken County, Barnwell County, South Carolina. It was in force for 38 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
- Apr 15, 1999, 5:52 PM EDT (21:52 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 15, 1999, 6:30 PM EDT
- In force
- 38 min
- Issued by
- NWS Columbia, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Aiken County, SC, Barnwell County, SC
The radar
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 72 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:53 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 15, 6:06 PM EDT | Tornado F1 | Williston, SC | KC4JMV and damage survey confirmed an F1 tornado took down numerous trees and powerlines along a 2 mile path. Minor damage was also done to a home. |
| Apr 15, 6:20 PM EDT | Tornado F0 | Hilda, SC | An F0 touched down on the east side of Hilda and damaged a small farm. One shed was destroyed, some equipment, and a few trees were 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 15, 4:15 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 154 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 148 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -103 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 695 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 70 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 286 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 347 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
999 WFUS1 KCAE 152153 RRA TORCAE SCC003-011-152230- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 552 PM EDT THU APR 15 1999 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA SC HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN AIKEN COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA BARNWELL COUNTY IN SOUTH CAROLINA * UNTIL 630 PM EDT * AT 550 PM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO OVER SOUTHERN AIKEN COUNTY NEAR NEW ELLENTON. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH TOWARD BLACKVILLE. DO NOT STAY IN A CAR OR MOBILE HOME DURING A TORNADO. GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH. LM
The office that day
Everything else NWS Columbia, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 15, 4:13 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Bamberg | 32 min |
| Apr 15, 4:38 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Newberry | 52 min |
| Apr 15, 5:39 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Aiken | 36 min |
| Apr 15, 6:26 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Bamberg | 34 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in South Carolina, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes in 1999
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.