Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 12, NWS Columbia, SC

March 31, 2002Fairfield County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 31, 2002, 2:38 PM EST for Fairfield County, South Carolina. It was in force for 22 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Mar 31, 2002, 2:38 PM EST (19:38 UTC)
Expired: Mar 31, 2002, 3:00 PM EST
In force: 22 min
Issued by: NWS Columbia, SC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Fairfield County, SC

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Mar 31, 3:00 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Blair, SC	Sheriff reported trees 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
Mar 31, 1:15 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 220 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: 775 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -24 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 541 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 97 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 65 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 2.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

359 
WUUS52 KCAE 311938
SVRCAE
SCC039-312000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
237 PM EST SUN MAR 31 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
    NORTHWESTERN FAIRFIELD COUNTY IN CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 300 PM EST.

* AT 235 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER NEWBERRY COUNTY..MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20
  MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
NORTHWEST FAIRFIELD COUNTY.

LAT...LON 3448 8158 3435 8142 3454 8117 3457 8139

RCC

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 31, 1:12 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Edgefield	48 min
Mar 31, 1:37 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Aiken	38 min
Mar 31, 2:03 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Lexington	42 min
Mar 31, 2:29 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Calhoun	31 min
Mar 31, 2:34 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Sumter	41 min
Mar 31, 2:48 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Lee	57 min
Mar 31, 3:09 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Clarendon, Sumter	36 min
Mar 31, 5:58 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Lee, Sumter	47 min
Mar 31, 6:06 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Orangeburg	54 min
Mar 31, 6:56 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Calhoun	34 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 2002 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2002

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.