Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Charleston, SC

October 11, 2002Colleton County, South Carolina

NWS Charleston, SC issued this tornado warning at Oct 11, 2002, 6:25 AM EDT for Colleton County, South Carolina. It was in force for 35 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Oct 11, 2002, 6:25 AM EDT (10:25 UTC)
Expired
Oct 11, 2002, 7:00 AM EDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, SC
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Colleton County, SC

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 32 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:28 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Oct 11, 6:40 AM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50 EHendersonville, SCSeveral trees and large 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, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 69 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 00:00Z on 2002-10-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2149 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Charleston AFB, SC at 00:00Z on 2002-10-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 77 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
2149 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
467 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
77 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
118 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.6
Supercell composite
4.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

129 
WFUS52 KCHS 111025
TORCHS
SCC029-111100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
624 AM EDT FRI OCT 11 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL COLLETON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA.

* UNTIL 700 AM EDT.

* AT 624 AM EDT...RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR WHITE HALL...OR
  ABOUT 8 MILES EAST OF YEMASSEE...MOVING NORTH AT 10 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...
  WHITE HALL.
  GREEN POND.
  HENDERSONVILLE.
  RITTER.

TORNADOES AT NIGHT ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOU
SEE OR HEAR IT COMING...IT MAY BE TOO LATE. TAKE COVER NOW

LAT...LON 3270 8080 3267 8065 3286 8053 3293 8084

$$

PY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 10, 8:48 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningCHS42 min
Oct 10, 9:26 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCHSCharleston3 hr
Oct 10, 9:33 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningCHS57 min
Oct 10, 9:55 PM EDTTornado WarningCHSCharleston50 min
Oct 11, 3:05 AM EDTSpecial Marine WarningCHS55 min
Oct 11, 10:43 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCHSBerkeley2 hr
Oct 11, 11:00 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCHSBerkeley, Charleston2 hr
Oct 11, 11:42 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSBerkeley63 min
Oct 11, 12:59 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningCHSBerkeley3 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.