Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2002
Tornado Warning 3, NWS Charleston, SC
NWS Charleston, SC issued this tornado warning at May 4, 2002, 8:47 PM EDT for Berkeley County, Charleston County, Dorchester County, South Carolina. It was in force for 58 min. 3 reports 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, 8:47 PM EDT (00:47 UTC)
- Expired
- May 4, 2002, 9:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 58 min
- Issued by
- NWS Charleston, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Berkeley County, SC, Charleston County, SC, Dorchester County, SC
The radar
The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 96 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:49 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, 8:55 PM EDT | Tornado F0 | Ridgeville, SC | Brief tornado touch down in a wooded area several small trees were pushed over and some small limbs were twisted off. |
| May 4, 9:10 PM EDT | Tornado F0 | Goose Creek, SC | A brief tornado touch down pushed over several trees. |
| May 4, 9:10 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 E | Ladson, SC | Several large tree limbs were 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 nearest sounding before it
Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 15 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WFUS52 KCHS 050047 TORCHS SCC015-019-035-050145- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC 846 PM EDT SAT MAY 4 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... SOUTHWESTERN BERKELEY COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA. CENTRAL CHARLESTON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA. SOUTHERN DORCHESTER COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA. * UNTIL 945 PM EDT. * AT 846 PM EDT...RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR RIDGEVILLE...OR ABOUT 12 MILES NORTHWEST OF SUMMERVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH. * SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE... JEDBURG. SANGAREE. SUMMERVILLE. LADSON. GOOSE CREEK. IF YOU ARE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO...TAKE COVER NOW ABANDON MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES. MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM OR HALLWAY ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS. $$ LAT...LON 3321 8044 3306 8039 3290 7991 3307 7989
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, 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, 11:18 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CHS | Charleston | 37 min |
| May 4, 11:35 PM EDT | Special Marine Warning | CHS | 55 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in South Carolina, 2002Every tornado warning in 2002Tornadoes 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.