Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 18, NWS Charleston, SC

May 4, 2002Charleston County, South Carolina

NWS Charleston, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 4, 2002, 11:18 PM EDT for Charleston County, South Carolina. It was in force for 37 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: May 4, 2002, 11:18 PM EDT (03:18 UTC)
Expired: May 4, 2002, 11:55 PM EDT
In force: 37 min
Issued by: NWS Charleston, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Charleston County, SC

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 103 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:18 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
May 4, 11:30 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	Awendaw, SC

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 00:00Z, 3.3 hours before the alert went out and 18 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: 788 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -51 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 568 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 167 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 248 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.1
Supercell composite: 8.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS52 KCHS 050318
SVRCHS
SCC019-050355-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
1120 PM EDT SAT MAY 4 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NORTHEASTERN CHARLESTON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA.

* UNTIL 1155 PM EDT.

* AT 1120 PM EDT...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 12 MILES
  WEST OF WAMBAW CORNER...OR ABOUT 13 MILES NORTHWEST OF
  MCCLELLANVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
  WAMBAW CORNER.
  MCCLELLANVILLE.

DIME SIZE HAIL AND 60 MPH WINDS ARE EXPECTED IN THE WARNED AREA.

BE ALERT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AS STORMS APPROACH.
SEEK SHELTER IN A STURDY BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

$$

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 Charleston, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 4, 9:36 PM EDT, 1 hour 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 4, 9:36 PM EDT, 1 hour 42 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
936 PM EDT SAT MAY 4 2002

ZFP:
CONVECTIVE CLUSTERS STRUNG OUT ALG THE LOW LVL FRONTAL BOUNDARY THIS
EVENING AS THE MAIN SFC LOW PRES AREA TAKES SHAPE OFF OF CAPE FEAR.
SCT SHOWERS AND TSTMS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE ALG THE FRONT AS IT MOVES
SOUTH LATER TONIGHT. WILL CONTINUE CHCY POPS OVERNIGHT AND MAINTAIN
OVERALL TRENDS.

CWF:
WITH FRONT IN THE VICINITY FLOW IS LIGHT AND VARIABLE CURRENTLY AND
WILL CONTINUE TRENDS FOR WINDS BECOMING N LATE WITH A MODEST SURGE.

.CHS...
GA...NONE.
SC...NONE.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 4, 8:59 PM EDT, 2 hours 19 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON, SC
859 PM EDT SAT MAY 4 2002

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0855 PM    RIDGEVILLE                GA   TORNADO
05/04/02   DORCHESTER                     TORNADO SIGHTED AT HIGHWAY
                                          61 AND WIRE ROAD AREA BY
                                          DORCHESTER SHERIFF.REPORTED
                                          BY LAW ENFORCEMENT

RVT

Local storm report, May 4, 9:51 PM EDT, 1 hour 27 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON, SC
951 PM EDT SAT MAY 4 2002

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0912 PM    LADSON                    SC   TORNADO
05/04/02   BERKELEY                       SPOTTER REPORTED DEBRIS
                                          WITH A FUNNEL CLOUD AND 60
                                          MPH WINDS. SOME DAMAGE
                                          REPORTED BUT STILL
                                          UNCONFIRMED. REPORTED BY
                                          SKYWARN SPOTTER.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 4, 8:21 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CHS	Dorchester	24 min
May 4, 8:47 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CHS	Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester	58 min
May 4, 9:22 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CHS	Berkeley, Charleston	28 min
May 4, 11:09 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CHS	Berkeley	36 min
May 4, 11:35 PM EDT	Special Marine Warning	CHS		55 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.