Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2008

Tornado Watch 100

March 4, 200817 counties in Georgia; 6 counties in North Carolina; 34 counties in South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 4, 2008, 6:27 PM EST for 17 counties in Georgia; 6 counties in North Carolina; 34 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 4, 2008, 6:27 PM EST (23:27 UTC)
Expired
Mar 5, 2008, 1:53 AM EST
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 57 counties

Bryan County, GA, Bulloch County, GA, Burke County, GA, Candler County, GA, Chatham County, GA, Columbia County, GA, Effingham County, GA, Evans County, GA, Jenkins County, GA, Liberty County, GA, Lincoln County, GA, Long County, GA, McDuffie County, GA, McIntosh County, GA, Richmond County, GA, Screven County, GA, Tattnall County, GA, Bladen County, NC, Brunswick County, NC, Columbus County, NC, New Hanover 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, Edgefield County, SC, Fairfield County, SC, Florence County, SC, Georgetown County, SC, Hampton County, SC, Horry County, SC, Jasper County, SC, Kershaw County, SC, Lancaster 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, Williamsburg County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:30 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.

What SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
40%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
10%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 4, 6:35 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELincoln24 min
Mar 4, 7:06 PM ESTTornado WarningCAEAiken39 min
Mar 4, 7:44 PM ESTTornado WarningCAEAiken, Lexington31 min
Mar 4, 7:58 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMBrunswick47 min
Mar 4, 9:27 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSColleton, Dorchester33 min
Mar 4, 9:33 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAECalhoun, Lexington, Orangeburg, Richland42 min
Mar 4, 9:44 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMBrunswick46 min
Mar 4, 9:45 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEKershaw29 min
Mar 4, 9:53 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEClarendon, Lee, Sumter37 min
Mar 4, 9:53 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMDarlington, Florence32 min
Mar 4, 10:06 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSBerkeley39 min
Mar 4, 10:15 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSBerkeley, Charleston45 min
Mar 4, 10:23 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMDillon, Marlboro18 min
Mar 4, 10:24 PM ESTTornado WarningILMPender30 min
Mar 4, 10:58 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMPender17 min
Mar 4, 11:05 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMBladen, Columbus, Robeson40 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, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 92 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 2008-03-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 458 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 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 2008-03-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 228 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
458 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
590 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
228 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
289 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 4, 2:09 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChattooga, Dade, Walker66 min
Mar 4, 2:25 AM ESTTornado WatchSPCCarroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Floyd, Gordon and 7 more8 hr
Mar 4, 3:30 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaker, Calhoun, Chattahoochee, Clay, Decatur, Dougherty and 19 more90 min
Mar 4, 4:21 AM ESTTornado WatchSPCBaker, Calhoun, Clay, Decatur, Dougherty, Early and 8 more9 hr
Mar 4, 5:55 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts, Carroll, Chattahoochee and 51 more95 min
Mar 4, 11:17 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBanks, Barrow, Bartow, Butts, Carroll, Catoosa and 48 more118 min
Mar 4, 11:56 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAppling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baker, Baldwin, Ben Hill and 79 more2 hr
Mar 4, 12:04 PM ESTTornado WatchSPCBaldwin, Banks, Barrow, Bartow, Bibb, Bleckley and 96 more8 hr
Mar 4, 2:30 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Banks, Barrow, Bibb, Butts, Clarke and 40 more90 min
Mar 4, 4:31 PM ESTTornado WatchSPCLincoln8 hr
Mar 4, 5:48 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBryan, Bulloch, Burke, Chatham, Effingham, Liberty and 2 more57 min
Mar 4, 6:33 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Bladen, Brunswick, Camden, Chowan and 34 more87 min
Mar 4, 2:03 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnson, Cabarrus, Cleveland, Gaston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg and 2 more117 min
Mar 4, 5:53 PM ESTTornado WatchSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven and 18 more9 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 2008Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2008Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2008Every tornado watch in 2008

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.