Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Charleston, SC

August 30, 2002Beaufort County, South Carolina

NWS Charleston, SC issued this tornado warning at Aug 30, 2002, 8:16 AM EDT for Beaufort County, South Carolina. It was in force for 29 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
Aug 30, 2002, 8:16 AM EDT (12:16 UTC)
Expired
Aug 30, 2002, 8:45 AM EDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Beaufort County, SC

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:18 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 89 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 2002-08-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 998 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 2002-08-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 45 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
998 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
531 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
45 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
68 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

730 
WFUS52 KCHS 301216
TORCHS
SCC013-301245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
815 AM EDT FRI AUG 30 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  COASTAL BEAUFORT COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA.

* UNTIL 845 AM EDT.

* AT 808 AM EDT...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF
  PRODUCING A WATERSPOUT 12 MILES SOUTHWEST OF FRIPP ISLAND...OR 
  ABOUT 13 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF HILTON HEAD ISLAND...MOVING NORTH 
  AT 20 MPH. THIS WATERSPOUT MAY MOVE ONSHORE AS A TORNADO NEAR FRIPP 
  ISLAND.

* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...
  FRIPP ISLAND.

WATERSPOUTS THAT MOVE ONSHORE BECOME TORNADOES. PEOPLE ALONG THE
SHORELINE SHOULD BE ALERT AND SEEK SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER
APPROACHES. GO TO A NEARBY STURDY BUILDING AND AVOID WINDOWS. AS A
LAST RESORT...FIND A LOW SPOT AND PROTECT YOUR HEAD AND BODY FROM
FLYING DEBRIS.

$$

LAT...LON 3215 8060 3213 8049 3238 8045 3234 8058

ST

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 30, 8:05 AM EDTSpecial Marine WarningCHS55 min
Aug 30, 10:00 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCHSCharleston3 hr

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.