Alert archive / South Carolina / Mesoscale Discussions in 2004
Mesoscale Discussion 40
The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Jan 26, 2004, 4:15 AM EST for 20 counties in Georgia; 25 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jan 26, 2004, 4:15 AM EST (09:15 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 26, 2004, 10:15 AM EST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 45 counties
Clarke County, GA, Columbia County, GA, Elbert County, GA, Glascock County, GA, Greene County, GA, Hancock County, GA, Hart County, GA, Lincoln County, GA, Madison County, GA, McDuffie County, GA, Morgan County, GA, Newton County, GA, Oconee County, GA, Oglethorpe County, GA, Putnam County, GA, Richmond County, GA, Taliaferro County, GA, Walton County, GA, Warren County, GA, Wilkes County, GA, Abbeville County, SC, Aiken County, SC, Anderson County, SC, Bamberg County, SC, Barnwell County, SC, Calhoun County, SC, Clarendon County, SC, Colleton County, SC, Darlington County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Dorchester County, SC, Edgefield County, SC, Fairfield County, SC, Florence County, SC, Greenwood County, SC, Kershaw County, SC, Laurens County, SC, Lee County, SC, Lexington County, SC, McCormick County, SC, Newberry County, SC, Orangeburg County, SC, Richland County, SC, Saluda County, SC, Sumter County, SC
The radar
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 70 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:18 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
Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 00:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 162 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 561 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 79 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 667 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 800 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
462 ACUS11 KWNS 260916 SWOMCD SPC MCD 260915 SCZ000-GAZ000-261515- MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0040 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 0315 AM CST MON JAN 26 2004 AREAS AFFECTED...MUCH OF SC...NERN/ECENTRAL GA CONCERNING...FREEZING RAIN VALID 260915Z - 261515Z SIGNIFICANT ICE STORM WILL BEGIN TO AFFECT THE AREA IN THE NEXT 3 HOURS. HOURLY ICE ACCUMULATIONS AROUND 0.25 IN. WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER PORTIONS OF SRN/CENTRAL SC AND ECENTRAL GA BETWEEN 26/9Z AND 26/13Z...WITH HEAVIER ACCUMULATIONS SPREADING NWD INTO NRN SC/NERN GA BETWEEN 26/12Z AND 26/15Z. INCREASING UPPER LEVEL DIFFLUENCE/WARM AIR ADVECTION HAS AIDED IN RAPID EXPANSION AND DEVELOPMENT OF CONVECTIVE PRECIPITATION OVER SRN GA/AL DURING THE LAST 2 HOURS. UP TO THIS POINT...REMNANT CONFLUENT MID LEVEL FLOW HAS LIMITED THIS PRECIPITATION FROM MOVING INTO AREAS BELOW FREEZING. HOWEVER...AS UPPER LEVEL DIFFLUENCE SPREADS EWD OVER THE AREA...HEAVIER PRECIPITATION WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE INTO SHALLOW SUB-FREEZING AIRMASS. 26/09Z SURFACE ANALYSIS INDICATES THAT THE SURFACE FREEZING LINE CONTINUES TO SINK SLOWLY SWD IN RESPONSE TO DENSITY EFFECTS...EXTENDING ALONG THE COASTAL COUNTIES OF SC WWD TO SOUTH OF AGS AND THE ATL METRO. AS SFC PRESSURE FALLS CONTINUE TO INCREASE OVER THE AREA...IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT THE 32 DEG F ISOTHERM WILL LIKELY REACH ITS SWD/WWD LIMIT SHORTLY AND MAY EVEN MOVE SLOWLY NWD THROUGH THE MID-MORNING. CONTINUED STRONG ISENTROPIC LIFT NORTH OF LOW LEVEL FRONTAL BOUNDARY ACROSS SRN GA/AL WILL AID IN ADDITIONAL CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. CURRENT EXTRAPOLATION OF ONGOING/NEW CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT OVER CENTRAL/SRN GA...AL SUGGESTS THE GREATEST THREAT FOR MODERATE TO HEAVY CONVECTIVE FREEZING RAIN WILL EXIST ALONG A 30 MILE WIDE AXIS FROM 30 S AGS TO 40 N CHS DURING THE NEXT 2-4 HOURS. WITH TIME...LOW-MID LEVEL WINDS WILL BACK IN RESPONSE TO APPROACHING SHORTWAVE TROUGH. THUS EXPECT MOD-HVY FREEZING RAIN AXIS TO SHIFT NWD...AND EXTEND FROM INTO THE ATL METRO AREA NEWD TO NORTH OF THE CAE AREA AFTER 26/12Z. ..CROSBIE.. 01/26/2004 ...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT... ATTN...WFO...ILM...CHS...CAE...GSP...FFC... 32688026 33008131 33208327 33598396 34688283 34437933
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 26, 3:10 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baker, Calhoun, Clay, Decatur, Dougherty, Early and 4 more | 3 hr |
| Jan 26, 5:15 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baker, Calhoun, Clay, Crisp, Decatur, Dougherty and 12 more | 6 hr |
| Jan 26, 8:00 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baker, Calhoun, Clay, Crisp, Decatur, Dougherty and 12 more | 2 hr |
| Jan 26, 10:30 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Atkinson, Bacon, Baker, Berrien, Brooks, Calhoun and 19 more | 6 hr |
| Jan 26, 3:00 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Atkinson, Brantley, Charlton, Clinch, Echols, Lanier and 3 more | 60 min |
| Jan 26, 5:57 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Banks, Barrow, Clarke, Elbert, Franklin, Greene and 13 more | 5 hr |
| Jan 26, 8:38 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Dillon, Marlboro | 6 hr |
| Jan 26, 11:51 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Abbeville, Aiken, Barnwell, Calhoun, Chester, Chesterfield and 21 more | 4 hr |
Nearby
Mesoscale Discussions in South Carolina, 2004Mesoscale Discussions in Georgia, 2004Every mesoscale discussion 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.