Alert archive / South Carolina / Freeze Warnings in 2026
Freeze Warning 1, NWS Columbia, SC
NWS Columbia, SC issued this freeze warning at Mar 16, 2026, 12:27 AM EDT for 15 counties in South Carolina; 5 counties in Georgia. It took effect at Mar 17, 2026, 4:00 AM EDT. It was in force for 6 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Mar 16, 2026, 12:27 AM EDT (04:27 UTC)
- In effect from
- Mar 17, 2026, 4:00 AM EDT
- Expired
- Mar 17, 2026, 10:00 AM EDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Columbia, SC
Counties Burke County, GA, Columbia County, GA, Lincoln County, GA, McDuffie County, GA, Richmond County, GA, Aiken County, SC, Bamberg County, SC, Barnwell County, SC, Calhoun County, SC, Chesterfield County, SC, Edgefield County, SC, Fairfield County, SC, Kershaw County, SC, Lancaster County, SC, Lexington County, SC, McCormick County, SC, Newberry County, SC, Orangeburg County, SC, Richland County, SC, Saluda County, SC
The radar
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 35 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:29 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.
The nearest sounding before it
Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 4.5 hours before the alert went out and 285 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
- 18 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -5 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1562 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 110 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 252 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this freeze 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 freeze warning went out at Mar 15, 7:45 PM EDT, 4 hours 42 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 15, 7:45 PM EDT, 4 hours 42 minutes before
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</html>The office that day
Everything else NWS Columbia, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 16, 12:27 AM EDT | Freeze Watch | CAE | Aiken, Bamberg, Barnwell, Calhoun, Chesterfield, Clarendon and 12 more | 24 hr |
| Mar 16, 12:27 AM EDT | Lake Wind Advisory | CAE | Aiken, Bamberg, Barnwell, Calhoun, Chesterfield, Clarendon and 12 more | 26 hr |
| Mar 16, 7:54 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Edgefield, McCormick | 66 min |
| Mar 16, 8:43 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Aiken, Edgefield, Fairfield, McCormick, Newberry, Saluda | 62 min |
| Mar 16, 8:54 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Aiken, Barnwell | 66 min |
| Mar 16, 9:00 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Aiken, Edgefield, McCormick | 60 min |
| Mar 16, 9:38 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Chesterfield, Lancaster | 38 min |
| Mar 16, 10:15 AM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Calhoun, Chesterfield, Kershaw, Lee, Richland, Sumter | 45 min |
| Mar 16, 3:55 PM EDT | Special Weather Statement | CAE | Bamberg, Calhoun, Chesterfield, Kershaw, Lancaster, Orangeburg and 2 more | 65 min |
| Mar 16, 4:55 PM EDT | Special Weather Statement | CAE | Chesterfield, Clarendon, Lee, Sumter | 50 min |
Nearby
Freeze Warnings in South Carolina, 2026Freeze Warnings in Georgia, 2026Every freeze warning in 2026
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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.