Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2012

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Charleston, SC

July 16, 2012Beaufort County, South Carolina

NWS Charleston, SC issued this tornado warning at Jul 16, 2012, 12:05 PM EDT for Beaufort County, South Carolina. It was in force for 15 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jul 16, 2012, 12:05 PM EDT (16:05 UTC)
Expired: Jul 16, 2012, 12:20 PM EDT
In force: 15 min
Issued by: NWS Charleston, SC
Area: Storm-based polygon

County Beaufort County, SC

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 63 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:07 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 4.1 hours before the alert went out and 114 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1372 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 742 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 28 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

717 
WFUS52 KCHS 161605
TORCHS
SCC013-161630-
/O.NEW.KCHS.TO.W.0014.120716T1605Z-120716T1630Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
1205 PM EDT MON JUL 16 2012

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTH CENTRAL BEAUFORT COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA...

* UNTIL 1230 PM EDT

* AT 1204 PM EDT...TYBEE ISLAND LIFEGUARD OFFICIALS REPORTED A
  WATERSPOUT VERY NEAR HILTON HEAD...MOVING ONSHORE. THE WATERSPOUT
  COULD MOVE ONSHORE AS A TORNADO AT ANY TIME.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE...
  HILTON HEAD...

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

WATERSPOUTS THAT MOVE ONSHORE BECOME TORNADOES. IF YOU ARE ALONG THE
SHORE...SEEK SHELTER IN A STURDY BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...FIND A
LOW SPOT AND PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING DEBRIS.

&&

LAT...LON 3211 8083 3210 8085 3211 8087 3220 8077
      3216 8071 3214 8074 3210 8082
TIME...MOT...LOC 1604Z 128DEG 16KT 3213 8076

$$

1 follow-up statement

170 
WWUS52 KCHS 161620
SVSCHS

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
1220 PM EDT MON JUL 16 2012

SCC013-161628-
/O.CAN.KCHS.TO.W.0014.000000T0000Z-120716T1630Z/
BEAUFORT SC-
1220 PM EDT MON JUL 16 2012

...THE TORNADO WARNING FOR SOUTH CENTRAL BEAUFORT COUNTY HAS BEEN
CANCELLED...

SPOTTERS REPORTED THAT THE WATERSPOUT WHICH PROMPTED THE TORNADO 
WARNING DISSIPATED AS IT APPROACHED THE FAR NORTH END OF HILTON HEAD 
ISLAND. THE TORNADO WARNING HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

TO REPORT HAIL OR WIND DAMAGE...CONTACT THE CHARLESTON NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE AT 1-888-383-2024 OR EMAIL YOUR REPORTS TO
CHS.SKYWARN@NOAA.GOV. REPORTS CAN ALSO BE SENT THROUGH TWITTER USING
#WXREPORT.

LAT...LON 3211 8083 3210 8085 3211 8087 3220 8077
      3216 8071 3214 8074 3210 8082
TIME...MOT...LOC 1618Z 128DEG 16KT 3217 8082

$$

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Carolina, 2012 Every tornado warning in 2012 Tornadoes in 2012

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.