Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2004
Tornado Watch 920
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Dec 10, 2004, 2:35 AM EST for 50 counties in Georgia; 6 counties in North Carolina; 28 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Dec 10, 2004, 2:35 AM EST (07:35 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 10, 2004, 9:00 AM EST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 84 counties
Appling County, GA, Atkinson County, GA, Bacon County, GA, Ben Hill County, GA, Berrien County, GA, Brantley County, GA, Brooks County, GA, Bryan County, GA, Bulloch County, GA, Burke County, GA, Camden County, GA, Candler County, GA, Charlton County, GA, Chatham County, GA, Clinch County, GA, Coffee County, GA, Colquitt County, GA, Cook County, GA, Dodge County, GA, Effingham County, GA, Emanuel County, GA, Evans County, GA, Glynn County, GA, Grady County, GA, Irwin County, GA, Jeff Davis County, GA, Jenkins County, GA, Johnson County, GA, Lanier County, GA, Laurens County, GA, Liberty County, GA, Long County, GA, Lowndes County, GA, McIntosh County, GA, Mitchell County, GA, Montgomery County, GA, Pierce County, GA, Screven County, GA, Tattnall County, GA, Telfair County, GA, Thomas County, GA, Tift County, GA, Toombs County, GA, Treutlen County, GA, Turner County, GA, Ware County, GA, Wayne County, GA, Wheeler County, GA, Wilcox County, GA, Worth County, GA, Bladen County, NC, Brunswick County, NC, Columbus County, NC, Onslow County, NC, Pender County, NC, Robeson County, NC, 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), 81 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:39 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
13 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 10, 2:45 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TAE | Berrien, Colquitt, Cook, Tift | 45 min |
| Dec 10, 2:53 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Lexington | 22 min |
| Dec 10, 3:00 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CHS | Bulloch, Candler, Jenkins | 30 min |
| Dec 10, 3:15 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Richland | 30 min |
| Dec 10, 3:26 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Aiken | 34 min |
| Dec 10, 3:37 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Kershaw | 38 min |
| Dec 10, 3:52 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Barnwell | 23 min |
| Dec 10, 3:54 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Coffee | 36 min |
| Dec 10, 3:57 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Orangeburg | 33 min |
| Dec 10, 4:05 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | JAX | Bacon | 25 min |
| Dec 10, 4:29 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Orangeburg | 31 min |
| Dec 10, 4:41 AM EST | Tornado Warning | CAE | Calhoun, Orangeburg | 34 min |
| Dec 10, 5:18 AM EST | Tornado Warning | CAE | Sumter | 27 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 00:00Z, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 181 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
- 555 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -93 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 998 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 56 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 95 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 53 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 1.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 100737
SEL0
SPC WW 100735
GAZ000-NCZ000-SCZ000-CWZ000-101400-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 920
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
235 AM EST FRI DEC 10 2004
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
SOUTHERN AND EASTERN GEORGIA
SOUTHEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA
MIDDLE AND EASTERN SOUTH CAROLINA
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY MORNING FROM 235 AM UNTIL 900 AM EST.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 90 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 60 MILES NORTHEAST OF FLORENCE SOUTH CAROLINA TO 5
MILES SOUTHEAST OF VALDOSTA 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...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 918...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 919. WATCH NUMBER 918 919
WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 235 AM EST.
DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS...INCLUDING A FEW LONG-LIVED
SUPERCELLS...EXPECTED TO CONTINUE SPREADING ENE ACROSS THE S
ATLANTIC CSTL PLN LATER THIS MORNING AS 80+ KT SWLY MID LEVEL SPEED
MAX APPROACHES REGION FROM THE SW. QUALITY OF BOUNDARY LAYER
MOISTURE INFLOW AND LENGTH OF HODOGRAPHS SUGGEST POTENTIAL FOR
TORNADOES DESPITE SOMEWHAT VEERED NEAR-SURFACE FLOW.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24040.
...CORFIDI
344,0772 304,0814 304,0844 344,0803SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 9, 7:15 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Barrow, Bibb, Burke, Butts, Carroll and 44 more | 90 min |
| Dec 9, 9:05 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baldwin, Barrow, Bibb, Burke, Butts, Carroll and 51 more | 6 hr |
| Dec 9, 10:48 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baker, Ben Hill, Bleckley, Calhoun, Clay, Colquitt and 29 more | 87 min |
| Dec 9, 11:25 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baker, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bleckley, Brooks, Calhoun and 40 more | 4 hr |
| Dec 10, 12:07 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Barrow, Bibb, Burke, Butts, Carroll and 52 more | 83 min |
| Dec 10, 2:11 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baker, Baldwin, Barrow, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bleckley and 100 more | 64 min |
| Dec 10, 6:00 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley and 44 more | 2 hr |
| Dec 10, 11:12 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Banks, Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Dade and 19 more | 33 min |
| Dec 10, 12:53 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Fannin, Gilmer, Gordon and 3 more | 2 hr |
| Dec 10, 3:20 AM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven and 33 more | 7 hr |
| Dec 10, 6:18 AM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bertie, Camden, Chowan, Craven, Cumberland and 31 more | 117 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2004Tornado 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.