Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 41, NWS Columbia, SC

December 10, 2004Aiken County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this tornado warning at Dec 10, 2004, 2:03 AM EST for Aiken County, South Carolina. It was in force for 42 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Dec 10, 2004, 2:03 AM EST (07:03 UTC)
Expired: Dec 10, 2004, 2:45 AM EST
In force: 42 min
Issued by: NWS Columbia, SC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Aiken County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:04 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Dec 9, 9:05 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 00:00Z, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 181 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: 555 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -93 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 998 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 95 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 53 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.2
Supercell composite: 1.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS52 KCAE 100703
TORCAE
SCC003-100745-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
201 AM EST FRI DEC 10 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  AIKEN COUNTY IN CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF AIKEN

* UNTIL 245 AM EST

* AT 201 AM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO NEAR
  BELVEDERE...OR ABOUT 8 MILES NORTHEAST OF AUGUSTA...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  AIKEN AND VAUCLUSE BY 210 AM EST
  EUREKA BY 215 AM EST
  NEW HOLLAND BY 225 AM EST 

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 300 AM EST FRIDAY MORNING FOR
EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA AND CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA.

LAT...LON 3354 8203 3335 8190 3368 8125 3386 8158

$$

TTH

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 10, 2:53 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Lexington	22 min
Dec 10, 3:15 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Richland	30 min
Dec 10, 3:26 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Aiken	34 min
Dec 10, 3:37 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Kershaw	38 min
Dec 10, 3:52 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Barnwell	23 min
Dec 10, 3:57 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Orangeburg	33 min
Dec 10, 4:29 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Orangeburg	31 min
Dec 10, 4:41 AM EST	Tornado Warning	CAE	Calhoun, Orangeburg	34 min
Dec 10, 5:18 AM EST	Tornado Warning	CAE	Sumter	27 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Carolina, 2004 Every tornado warning in 2004 Tornadoes in 2004

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.