Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Wilmington, NC

August 12, 2004Columbus County, North Carolina; Horry County, South Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at Aug 12, 2004, 2:32 PM EDT for Columbus County, North Carolina; Horry County, South Carolina. It was in force for 43 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, 2:32 PM EDT (18:32 UTC)
Expired: Aug 12, 2004, 3:15 PM EDT
In force: 43 min
Issued by: NWS Wilmington, NC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Columbus County, NC, Horry County, SC

The radar

The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 22 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:33 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
Aug 12, 11:45 AM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 168 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: 926 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 584 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 39 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 57 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS52 KILM 121832
TORILM
NCC047-SCC051-121915-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
230 PM EDT THU AUG 12 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON NC HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  HORRY COUNTY IN NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA
  COLUMBUS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 315 PM EDT

* AT 228 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING A TORNADO 6 MILES SOUTH OF
  LORIS...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
   IRON HILL BY 245 PM...
   PIREWAY BY 250 PM...
   NAKINA BY 255 PM...
   OLD DOCK BY 300 PM...
   LAKE WACCAMAW BY 315 PM...

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.

IF YOU OBSERVED SEVERE WEATHER OR WEATHER RELATED DAMAGE...REPORT IT
TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AND ASK THEM TO RELAY THE
REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN WILMINGTON
NC.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 600 PM EDT THURSDAY EVENING
FOR SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA AND NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA.

LAT...LON 3437 7844 3422 7829 3421 7836 3415 7841
      3416 7852 3404 7859 3402 7862 3397 7867
      3386 7885 3400 7898 3436 7851 3438 7848

$$

CRM

The office that day

Everything else NWS Wilmington, NC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 12, 2:07 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	ILM	Robeson	53 min
Aug 12, 3:19 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Columbus	41 min
Aug 12, 1:03 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Williamsburg	57 min
Aug 12, 1:41 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Dillon	49 min
Aug 12, 1:52 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ILM	Horry	53 min
Aug 12, 2:01 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	ILM	Marlboro	29 min
Aug 12, 2:02 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	ILM	Horry	28 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 2004 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.