Bow Echo and Supercell Thunderstorms on April 22, 1997

BOW ECHO AND SUPERCELL STORMS ON 4/22/97

During the late evening of Tuesday, April 22nd, two severe storms were moving across the northeast sections of South Carolina. The first was a supercell storm that developed east of Columbia and moved northeast across Florence, Marion and Horry counties. This storm produced hail ranging from 3/4" to 1.25" in diameter and occasional damaging winds. The second severe storm was a large bow echo that developed in Alabama and Georgia on the 21st and maintained itself all the way into North Carolina and out over the Atlantic ocean. This bow echo produced widespread wind damage across Florence, Williamsburg, Georgetown, Marion and Horry counties before it merged with the supercell in northeast Horry county. This area of new storms quickly reformed into a bow echo and produced wind damage and large hail in Brunswick and New Hanover counties in North Carolina. The reflectivity image below is from the Wilmington doppler radar at 10:47 PM 4/22/97. The supercell storm is located over western Horry county, just southwest of Aynor, into extreme southeast Florence county. The bow echo stretches from just south of the city of Florence to near Salters in central Williamsburg county. Most of the damage from this bow echo was produced in the middle section of the line where the bow was the most pronounced. At the time of the image, strong winds were producing damage from Lake City to Cades.