Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2004

Tornado Watch 844

September 27, 200419 counties in North Carolina; 23 counties in South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Sep 27, 2004, 3:50 PM EDT for 19 counties in North Carolina; 23 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Sep 27, 2004, 3:50 PM EDT (19:50 UTC)
Expired
Sep 27, 2004, 10:00 PM EDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 42 counties

Bladen County, NC, Brunswick County, NC, Columbus County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Duplin County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Lee County, NC, Moore County, NC, New Hanover County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pender County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Robeson County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Wake County, NC, Wayne County, NC, Bamberg 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, Horry County, SC, Kershaw County, SC, Lee County, SC, Lexington County, SC, Marion County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, Orangeburg County, SC, Richland County, SC, Saluda County, SC, Sumter County, SC, Williamsburg County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 118 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:52 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, 4:29 PM EDTTornado WarningCAESaluda31 min
Sep 27, 4:31 PM EDTTornado WarningILMMarion59 min
Sep 27, 5:24 PM EDTTornado WarningCAELexington, Newberry36 min
Sep 27, 5:32 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHMoore43 min
Sep 27, 6:13 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHMoore17 min
Sep 27, 7:08 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHWake37 min
Sep 27, 7:26 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELexington34 min
Sep 27, 7:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEOrangeburg25 min
Sep 27, 7:41 PM EDTTornado WarningRAHMontgomery, Richmond34 min
Sep 27, 8:13 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAERichland32 min
Sep 27, 9:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSColleton60 min
Sep 27, 9:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSDorchester56 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, 7.8 hours before the alert went out and 137 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 271950
SEL4  
SPC WW 271950
NCZ000-SCZ000-CWZ000-280200-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 844
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
350 PM EDT MON SEP 27 2004

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

       SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
       CENTRAL AND EASTERN SOUTH CAROLINA
       COASTAL WATERS

EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 350 PM UNTIL 1000
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 55 MILES SOUTH OF COLUMBIA SOUTH CAROLINA TO 25
MILES NORTH OF JACKSONVILLE NORTH 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.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 843. WATCH NUMBER 843 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 350
PM EDT. 

DISCUSSION...STRONG LOW LEVEL VERTICAL SHEAR PROFILES AND HIGH
THETA-E SURFACE CONDITIONS REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR ISOLATED TROPICAL
TORNADOES IN OUTER RAINBANDS OF JEANNE FOR SEVERAL MORE HOURS.

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 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 14035.


...HART

340,0814 360,0781 341,0765 321,0803

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 27, 3:24 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnson, Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Cumberland, Duplin and 9 more96 min
Sep 27, 6:05 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlexander, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba and 11 more115 min
Sep 27, 6:31 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnson, Bladen, Columbus, Cumberland, Duplin, Harnett and 13 more119 min
Sep 26, 9:53 PM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Hampton and 1 more2 hr
Sep 27, 12:35 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCAllendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston and 4 more8 hr
Sep 27, 4:47 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Jasper118 min
Sep 27, 7:38 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Hampton and 1 more2 hr
Sep 27, 10:27 AM EDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley and 25 more2 hr
Sep 27, 10:40 AM EDTTornado WatchSPCAiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Beaufort, Berkeley and 22 more6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 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.