Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Charleston, SC

May 4, 2002Berkeley County, Charleston County, South Carolina

NWS Charleston, SC issued this tornado warning at May 4, 2002, 9:22 PM EDT for Berkeley County, Charleston County, South Carolina. It was in force for 28 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 4, 2002, 9:22 PM EDT (01:22 UTC)
Expired: May 4, 2002, 9:50 PM EDT
In force: 28 min
Issued by: NWS Charleston, SC
Area: Whole counties

Counties Berkeley County, SC, Charleston County, SC

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 108 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:24 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

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 00:00Z, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 10 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 
WFUS52 KCHS 050122
TORCHS
SCC015-019-050150-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
920 PM EDT SAT MAY 4 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTH CENTRAL BERKELEY COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA.
  CENTRAL CHARLESTON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA.

* UNTIL 950 PM EDT.

* AT 921 PM EDT...RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 8 MILES NORTHWEST OF
  DANIEL ISLAND...OR ABOUT 3 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GOOSE CREEK...MOVING
  SOUTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED NEAR...
  DANIEL ISLAND AT 935 PM.
  CAINHOY...WANDO AT 940 PM.
  ISLE OF PALMS AT 945 PM.

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 3302 7998 3292 8002 3270 7968 3290 7958

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, 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, 2002 Every tornado warning in 2002 Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.