Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2004
Tornado Watch 70
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 12, 2004, 2:25 PM EDT for 25 counties in Georgia; 24 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 12, 2004, 2:25 PM EDT (18:25 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 12, 2004, 8:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 49 counties
Baldwin County, GA, Bleckley County, GA, Burke County, GA, Columbia County, GA, Emanuel County, GA, Glascock County, GA, Greene County, GA, Hancock County, GA, Jefferson County, GA, Jenkins County, GA, Johnson County, GA, Jones County, GA, Laurens County, GA, Lincoln County, GA, McDuffie County, GA, Morgan County, GA, Putnam County, GA, Richmond County, GA, Screven County, GA, Taliaferro County, GA, Treutlen County, GA, Warren County, GA, Washington County, GA, Wilkes County, GA, Wilkinson County, GA, Aiken County, SC, Allendale County, SC, Bamberg County, SC, Barnwell County, SC, Berkeley County, SC, Calhoun County, SC, Clarendon County, SC, Darlington County, SC, Dorchester County, SC, Edgefield County, SC, Florence County, SC, Georgetown County, SC, Hampton County, SC, Kershaw County, SC, Lee County, SC, Lexington County, SC, Marion County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, McCormick County, SC, Orangeburg County, SC, Richland County, SC, Saluda County, SC, Sumter County, SC, Williamsburg County, SC
The radar
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:28 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.
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
The nearest sounding before it
Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 183 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
- 753 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 39 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 142 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 265 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 121825
SEL0
SPC WW 121825
GAZ000-SCZ000-CWZ000-130000-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 70
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
225 PM EDT MON APR 12 2004
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
EASTERN GEORGIA
CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN SOUTH CAROLINA
EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 225 PM UNTIL 800
PM EDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 50 STATUTE MILES EITHER SIDE
OF A LINE FROM 95 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF AUGUSTA GEORGIA TO 30
MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF FLORENCE SOUTH CAROLINA.
REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.
DISCUSSION...WEDGE FRONT ACROSS CENTRAL GA/SC MOVING LITTLE. AIR
MASS S OF FRONT IS MDTLY/STGLY UNSTABLE AND WEAKLY CAPPED. SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP IN THE VICINITY OF THE FRONT WHERE LOW
LEVEL CONVERGENCE IS MAXIMIZED. WITH FAVORABLE VEERING SHEAR
PROFILES NEAR FRONT AND SFC-6KM SHEAR OF 40-50 KT...SUPERCELLS ARE
LIKELY. ISOLATED TORNADOES ALONG WITH AN ENHANCED THREAT OF LARGE
HAIL AND WET MICRO-BURSTS WILL BE ASSOCIATED WITH ANY SUPERCELL.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.
...HALES
333,0834 344,0792 331,0790 320,0831SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 12, 2:18 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Chatham, Effingham, Screven | 87 min |
| Apr 12, 1:52 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Candler, Chatham, Effingham and 7 more | 113 min |
| Apr 12, 2:33 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Calhoun, Chattahoochee, Clay, Decatur, Early, Miller and 5 more | 117 min |
| Apr 12, 3:10 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Baker, Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Bibb, Butts and 58 more | 5 hr |
| Apr 12, 4:44 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Bleckley, Burke, Columbia, Dodge, Emanuel and 19 more | 91 min |
| Apr 12, 7:31 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baker, Butts, Calhoun, Chattahoochee, Clay, Coweta and 21 more | 59 min |
| Apr 12, 7:50 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Baker, Baldwin, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bibb, Bleckley and 67 more | 5 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2004Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 2004Every tornado watch 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.