Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 15, NWS Charleston, SC

August 12, 2004Charleston County, South Carolina

NWS Charleston, SC issued this tornado warning at Aug 12, 2004, 10:55 PM EDT for Charleston County, South Carolina. It was in force for 35 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
Aug 12, 2004, 10:55 PM EDT (02:55 UTC)
Expired
Aug 12, 2004, 11:30 PM EDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, SC
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Charleston County, SC

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:56 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

Jacksonville, FL (KJAX), launched 00:00Z, 2.9 hours before the alert went out and 282 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, Jacksonville, FL at 00:00Z on 2004-08-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1796 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, Jacksonville, FL at 00:00Z on 2004-08-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 115 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1796 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
826 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
115 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
169 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
5.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS52 KCHS 130255
TORCHS
SCC019-130330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
1056 PM EDT THU AUG 12 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 1130 PM EDT

* AT 1056 PM EDT...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF
  PRODUCING A TORNADO NEAR SEABROOK ISLAND...OR ABOUT 12 MILES
  NORTHEAST OF EDISTO BEACH...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 55 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  KIAWAH ISLAND AND SEABROOK ISLAND...
  JOHNS ISLAND...
  FOLLY BEACH...
  JAMES ISLAND...

A TORNADO MAY FORM AT ANY TIME. TAKE COVER NOW. ABANDON MOBILE HOMES
AND VEHICLES. MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM OR HALLWAY ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER ONLY...PLEASE CONTACT THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE IN CHARLESTON TOLL FREE AT 1-888-383-2024.

LAT...LON 3261 8027 3248 8013 3268 7982 3281 8005

$$

PM

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 12, 8:02 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningCHS28 min
Aug 12, 8:26 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningCHS64 min
Aug 12, 8:30 PM EDTTornado WarningCHSJasper30 min
Aug 12, 8:32 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningCHS58 min
Aug 12, 8:38 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningCHS37 min
Aug 12, 8:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSBeaufort, Jasper32 min
Aug 12, 8:58 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningCHS62 min
Aug 12, 9:15 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningCHS60 min
Aug 12, 9:23 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningCHS67 min
Aug 12, 9:55 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningCHS65 min
Aug 12, 9:55 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningCHS65 min
Aug 12, 10:12 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningCHS48 min
Aug 12, 10:59 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningCHS91 min
Aug 12, 10:59 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningCHS91 min
Aug 12, 11:43 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSCharleston47 min
Aug 12, 11:54 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningCHS96 min
Aug 13, 12:31 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSCharleston14 min
Aug 13, 12:20 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningCHS55 min
Aug 13, 1:54 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningCHS2 hr

Nearby

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