Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 830

September 16, 200425 counties in Georgia; Robeson County, North Carolina; 38 counties in South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Sep 16, 2004, 12:20 PM EDT for 25 counties in Georgia; Robeson County, North Carolina; 38 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 9 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Sep 16, 2004, 12:20 PM EDT (16:20 UTC)
Expired
Sep 16, 2004, 9:00 PM EDT
In force
9 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 64 counties

Bryan County, GA, Bulloch County, GA, Burke County, GA, Candler County, GA, Chatham County, GA, Columbia County, GA, Effingham County, GA, Emanuel County, GA, Evans County, GA, Glascock County, GA, Jefferson County, GA, Jenkins County, GA, Johnson County, GA, Lincoln County, GA, McDuffie County, GA, Montgomery County, GA, Richmond County, GA, Screven County, GA, Tattnall County, GA, Telfair County, GA, Toombs County, GA, Treutlen County, GA, Warren County, GA, Washington County, GA, Wheeler County, GA, Robeson County, NC, Abbeville County, SC, Aiken County, SC, Allendale County, SC, Bamberg County, SC, Barnwell County, SC, Beaufort County, SC, Berkeley County, SC, Calhoun County, SC, Charleston County, SC, Chester County, SC, Chesterfield 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, Georgetown County, SC, Greenwood County, SC, Hampton County, SC, Jasper County, SC, Kershaw County, SC, Lancaster County, SC, Laurens County, SC, Lee County, SC, Lexington County, SC, Marion County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, McCormick County, SC, Newberry County, SC, Orangeburg County, SC, Richland County, SC, Saluda County, SC, Sumter County, SC, Union County, SC, Williamsburg County, SC

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 50 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:20 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.

Warnings issued inside it

2 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 16, 2:41 PM EDTTornado WarningCAEAiken34 min
Sep 16, 3:46 PM EDTTornado WarningCAESaluda29 min

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, 4.3 hours before the alert went out and 127 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 2004-09-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2178 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 2004-09-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 75 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
2178 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
527 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
75 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
61 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
3.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 161622
SEL0  
SPC WW 161620
GAZ000-SCZ000-CWZ000-170100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 830
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1220 PM EDT THU SEP 16 2004

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 

       EASTERN GEORGIA
       SOUTH CAROLINA
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 1220 PM UNTIL
900 PM EDT.

TORNADOES...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 105 STATUTE MILES EAST AND
WEST OF A LINE FROM 65 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF COLUMBIA SOUTH
CAROLINA TO 20 MILES SOUTH OF SAVANNAH GEORGIA.

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.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 829...WW 828...

DISCUSSION...THREAT FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE
INTO THE AFTERNOON. AS THE ATMOSPHERE CONTINUES TO
DESTABILIZE...STORMS SHOULD GRADUALLY INCREASE IN INTENSITY WITH
POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE ISOLATED TORNADOES...ESPECIALLY AS THEY MOVE
NWD AND INTERACT WITH THE ENHANCED LOW LEVEL SHEAR IN VICINITY OF AN
E-W BOUNDARY OVER SC.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH EXTREME
TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI
WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 17030.


...DIAL/EVANS

344,0785 314,0792 314,0825 344,0823

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 15, 9:09 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaker, Calhoun, Clay, Decatur, Dougherty, Early and 8 more2 hr
Sep 15, 11:35 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaker, Calhoun, Chattahoochee, Clay, Decatur, Dougherty and 20 more115 min
Sep 16, 2:10 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCBaker, Calhoun, Chattahoochee, Clay, Colquitt, Crawford and 26 more9 hr
Sep 16, 3:57 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaker, Calhoun, Chattahoochee, Clay, Colquitt, Crawford and 26 more2 hr
Sep 16, 6:00 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCAtkinson, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brooks, Clinch, Coffee and 9 more5 hr
Sep 16, 8:03 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtkinson, Baker, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brooks, Calhoun and 40 more117 min
Sep 16, 10:09 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtkinson, Baker, Baldwin, Bartow, Ben Hill, Berrien and 85 more66 min
Sep 16, 10:45 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCBaldwin, Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Bibb, Bleckley and 84 more10 hr
Sep 16, 10:50 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCAppling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baker, Ben Hill, Berrien and 29 more10 hr
Sep 16, 10:58 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBryan, Bulloch, Burke, Candler, Chatham, Columbia and 16 more2 hr
Sep 16, 2:16 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtkinson, Baker, Baldwin, Banks, Barrow, Bartow and 97 more119 min
Sep 16, 3:31 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBulloch, Burke, Candler, Columbia, Effingham, Emanuel and 11 more119 min
Sep 16, 6:38 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Bibb, Bleckley and 110 more2 hr
Sep 16, 4:52 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson and 3 more83 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 2004Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2004Tornado Watches in North 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.