Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 43, NWS Columbia, SC

December 10, 2004Sumter County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this tornado warning at Dec 10, 2004, 5:18 AM EST for Sumter County, South Carolina. It was in force for 27 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, 5:18 AM EST (10:18 UTC)
Expired: Dec 10, 2004, 5:45 AM EST
In force: 27 min
Issued by: NWS Columbia, SC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Sumter County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 67 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:20 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 10, 2:35 AM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 00:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 107 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 101018
TORCAE
SCC085-101045-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 545 AM EST

* AT 513 AM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 17 MILES   
  SOUTHWEST OF SUMTER MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  MILLWOOD BY 535 AM EST
  SOUTH SUMTER AND SUMTER BY 540 AM EST
  EAST SUMTER BY 545 AM EST

IN ADDITION TO THE TORNADO...THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING 
NICKLE SIZE HAIL AND DESTRUCTIVE STRAIGHT LINE WINDS.

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.

LAT...LON 3390 8011 3378 8032 3378 8039 3373 8041
      3373 8043 3374 8044 3367 8053 3367 8055
      3372 8061 3380 8059 3385 8061 3404 8031

$$

CDL

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 10, 2:03 AM EST	Tornado Warning	CAE	Aiken	42 min
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

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.