Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 87, NWS Columbia, SC

July 31, 2002Clarendon County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 31, 2002, 2:56 PM EDT for Clarendon County, South Carolina. It was in force for 49 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: Jul 31, 2002, 2:56 PM EDT (18:56 UTC)
Expired: Jul 31, 2002, 3:45 PM EDT
In force: 49 min
Issued by: NWS Columbia, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Clarendon County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 89 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:58 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
Jul 31, 3:40 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Paxville, SC	Electric coop reported powerlines down in Homebranch near Paxville.

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 nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 6.9 hours before the alert went out and 88 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: 1805 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -105 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 979 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -84 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -61 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: -1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

351 
WUUS52 KCAE 311856
SVRCAE
SCC027-311945-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
255 PM EDT WED JUL 31 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
    CLARENDON COUNTY IN CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 345 PM EDT.

* AT 255 PM EDT...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM BETWEEN
  PAXVILLE ANDF MANNING...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
    MANNING
    ALCOLU.

THIS STORM WILL PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH AND DIME 
SIZE HAIL.

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 Columbia, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jul 31, 2:25 PM EDT, 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 31, 2:25 PM EDT, 31 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
225 PM EDT WED JUL 31 2002

SURFACE TROUGH ACROSS MIDLANDS THIS AFTERNOON. 850MB TROUGH IN THE
PIEDMONT. SATELLITE SHOWING CU DEVELOPING ACROSS REGION. LAPS AND
BUFKIT SOUNDINGS INDICATE AIRMASS MODERATELY TO VERY UNSTABLE WITH
SURFACE BASED LI -6 TO -8. CAPE 1500-2500 J/KG. TOTALS-TOTALS INDEX
AROUND 50. SOUNDINGS INDICATE MAIN THREAT DOWNBURST WINDS. UPPER LOW
OVER SOUTH CENTRAL GA FORECAST TO MOVE TO THE GA COAST OVERNIGHT.
WEAK SHORT WAVE DROPPING SOUTHEAST INTO AREA FROM NORTH CAROLINA
MOUNTAINS THIS EVENING. EXPECT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
TONIGHT...UNTIL AROUND MIDNIGHT. UPPER LOW FORECAST TO MOVE OFF THE
COAST GA THU...UPPER HIGH CENTERED OVER MIDWEST. WEAK SHORT WAVES
DROPPING SOUTH FROM MID ATLANTIC THROUGH FRI. AIRMASS MODERATELY
UNSTABLE...BEST MOISTURE FLUX/LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE IN THE CSRA BOTH
DAYS. A LITTLE DRIER ACROSS NORTHERN CWA. WILL GO WITH HIGHER POPS
SOUTH AND LOWER POPS NORTH THU/FRI. LITTLE DEVIATION FROM TEMP
GUIDANCE.

EXTENDED...UPPER LOW EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO GULF OF MEXICO DURING
PERIOD WITH UPPER HIGH REMAINING IN THE MIDWEST. WEAK SHORT WAVES
CONTINUE TO DROP SOUTH ACROSS AREA...MOISTURE SHOULD BE SOUTH OF
AREA ALONG GULF COAST. WILL GO WITH SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR SAT THEN
NO POP FOR REST OF PERIOD WITH TEMPS AT OR ABOVE CLIMO.

FCSTID = 19
CAE   75  96  72  95 /  40  30  20  20
AGS   74  94  72  93 /  50  40  20  20
SSC   75  96  72  95 /  40  30  20  20
OGB   74  94  72  93 /  50  40  20  20

.CAE...
GA...NONE.
SC...NONE.

AWP

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 30, 9:24 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Fairfield, Newberry	36 min
Jul 31, 2:58 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Richland	47 min
Jul 31, 3:54 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Barnwell	31 min
Jul 31, 4:20 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Aiken	25 min
Jul 31, 4:47 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Edgefield	28 min
Jul 31, 5:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Calhoun, Orangeburg	29 min
Jul 31, 5:12 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Calhoun, Orangeburg	28 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.