Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Charleston, SC

December 17, 2000Berkeley County, Dorchester County, South Carolina

NWS Charleston, SC issued this tornado warning at Dec 17, 2000, 12:58 AM EST for Berkeley County, Dorchester County, South Carolina. It was in force for 32 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: Dec 17, 2000, 12:58 AM EST (05:58 UTC)
Expired: Dec 17, 2000, 1:30 AM EST
In force: 32 min
Issued by: NWS Charleston, SC
Area: Whole counties

Counties Berkeley County, SC, Dorchester County, SC

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 97 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:00 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
Dec 17, 1:10 AM EST	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Reevesville, SC	Trees and power lines down.
Dec 17, 1:15 AM EST	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Moncks Corner, SC	Large limbs 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Dec 16, 11:00 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 00:00Z, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 31 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: 831 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 489 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 61 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 209 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 202 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 3.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS52 KCHS 170559
TORCHS

SCC015-035-170630-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
1258 AM EST SUN DEC 17 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

  NORTHWESTERN BERKELEY COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA.
  CENTRAL DORCHESTER COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA.

* UNTIL 130 AM EST.

* AT 1258 AM EST...RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 9 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF DORCHESTER...OR ABOUT 12 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SAINT
  GEORGE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 60 MPH.

IF YOU ARE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...TAKE COVER NOW!
ABANDON MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES. MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM OR
HALLWAY ON lTHE LOWEST FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS.

$$

RVT
NNNN

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 17, 12:13 AM EST	Tornado Warning	CHS	Jasper	32 min
Dec 17, 12:38 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Beaufort, Colleton	37 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Carolina, 2000 Every tornado warning in 2000 Tornadoes in 2000

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.