Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 843

September 27, 200418 counties in Georgia; 28 counties in South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Sep 27, 2004, 10:40 AM EDT for 18 counties in Georgia; 28 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Sep 27, 2004, 10:40 AM EDT (14:40 UTC)
Expired
Sep 27, 2004, 5:00 PM EDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 46 counties

Bryan County, GA, Bulloch County, GA, Burke County, GA, Candler County, GA, Chatham County, GA, Effingham County, GA, Emanuel County, GA, Evans County, GA, Jefferson County, GA, Jenkins County, GA, Johnson County, GA, Liberty County, GA, Long County, GA, McIntosh County, GA, Richmond County, GA, Screven County, GA, Tattnall County, GA, Washington County, GA, Aiken County, SC, Allendale County, SC, Bamberg County, SC, Barnwell County, SC, Beaufort County, SC, Berkeley County, SC, Calhoun County, SC, Charleston County, SC, Chesterfield County, SC, Clarendon County, SC, Colleton County, SC, Darlington County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Dorchester County, SC, Florence County, SC, Georgetown County, SC, Hampton County, SC, Horry County, SC, Jasper County, SC, Kershaw County, SC, Lee County, SC, Lexington County, SC, Marion County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, Orangeburg County, SC, Richland County, SC, Sumter County, SC, Williamsburg County, SC

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 51 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:41 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 27, 12:36 PM EDTTornado WarningILMGeorgetown39 min
Sep 27, 1:04 PM EDTTornado WarningILMWilliamsburg26 min
Sep 27, 1:05 PM EDTTornado WarningILMDarlington, Florence25 min
Sep 27, 1:30 PM EDTTornado WarningCAEAiken15 min
Sep 27, 1:33 PM EDTTornado WarningILMFlorence, Marion27 min
Sep 27, 2:07 PM EDTTornado WarningCAEAiken23 min
Sep 27, 2:08 PM EDTTornado WarningILMFlorence, Marion37 min
Sep 27, 2:34 PM EDTTornado WarningILMDillon, Marlboro26 min
Sep 27, 2:54 PM EDTTornado WarningCAELexington, Saluda36 min
Sep 27, 3:03 PM EDTTornado WarningILMMarlboro57 min
Sep 27, 3:05 PM EDTTornado WarningILMMarlboro55 min
Sep 27, 4:31 PM EDTTornado WarningILMMarion59 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, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 104 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 2004-09-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1064 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 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 2004-09-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 124 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 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
1064 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
509 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
124 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
137 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
2.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 271443
SEL3  
SPC WW 271440
GAZ000-SCZ000-CWZ000-272100-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 843
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1040 AM EDT MON SEP 27 2004

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

       EASTERN GEORGIA
       CENTRAL AND EASTERN SOUTH CAROLINA
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 1040 AM UNTIL 500
PM EDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 0.5 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 70 STATUTE MILES EITHER SIDE
OF A LINE FROM 60 MILES WEST OF SAVANNAH GEORGIA TO 40 MILES EAST
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...STORMS EMBEDDED IN OUTER BANDS OF JEANNE ARE IN REGION
OF STRONG LOW LEVEL VERTICAL SHEAR AND RATHER HIGH SURFACE DEWPOINTS
OVER EASTERN GA AND CENTRAL/EASTERN SC.  THESE STORMS MAY INTERACT
WITH WEAK SURFACE BOUNDARIES...ENHANCING THE RISK OF ISOLATED
TORNADOES TODAY.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 0.5 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 13040.


...HART

325,0825 350,0794 332,0781 311,0813

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 27, 12:35 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCAppling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley and 36 more8 hr
Sep 27, 4:47 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAppling, Ben Hill, Bryan, Bulloch, Candler, Chatham and 15 more118 min
Sep 27, 7:38 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBryan, Chatham, Effingham2 hr
Sep 27, 10:27 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Camden, Candler and 28 more2 hr
Sep 27, 6:05 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBanks, Franklin, Habersham, Hart, Madison, Rabun and 1 more115 min
Sep 26, 9:53 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Hampton and 1 more2 hr
Sep 27, 3:24 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBamberg, Berkeley, Calhoun, Chesterfield, Clarendon, Colleton and 15 more96 min
Sep 27, 3:50 PM EDTTornado WatchSPCBamberg, Berkeley, Calhoun, Charleston, Chesterfield, Clarendon and 17 more6 hr
Sep 27, 6:31 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBerkeley, Calhoun, Chester, Chesterfield, Clarendon, Darlington and 16 more119 min

Nearby

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