Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2013
Tornado Watch 26
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jan 30, 2013, 8:56 PM EST for 6 counties in Georgia; 7 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 3 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jan 30, 2013, 8:56 PM EST (01:56 UTC)
- Expired
- Jan 30, 2013, 11:46 PM EST
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 0.5 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
Counties Bryan County, GA, Chatham County, GA, Effingham County, GA, Liberty County, GA, Long County, GA, McIntosh County, GA, Beaufort County, SC, Berkeley County, SC, Charleston County, SC, Colleton County, SC, Dorchester County, SC, Hampton County, SC, Jasper County, SC
The radar
The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 41 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:58 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
- 30%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 10%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 70%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 20%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 5%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 5%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 90%
Warnings issued inside it
3 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 30, 9:15 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CHS | Bryan, Bulloch, Chatham, Effingham, Evans, Liberty and 4 more | 60 min |
| Jan 30, 10:08 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CHS | Bryan, Chatham, Liberty, McIntosh | 52 min |
| Jan 30, 10:57 PM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CHS | Berkeley, Charleston, Dorchester | 63 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, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 60 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
- 72 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -104 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 760 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 68 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 305 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 345 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
852
WWUS20 KWNS 310158
SEL6
SPC WW 310158
GAZ000-SCZ000-CWZ000-310600-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 26
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
855 PM EST WED JAN 30 2013
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
SOUTHEASTERN GEORGIA
COASTAL SOUTH CAROLINA
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING FROM 855 PM
UNTIL 100 AM EST.
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 APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 55 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF
CHARLESTON SOUTH CAROLINA TO 55 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF SAVANNAH
GEORGIA. FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU6).
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...CONTINUE...WW 23...WW 24...WW 25...
DISCUSSION...EXISTING SSW/NNE SQLN WILL CONTINUE ENE INTO MOIST BUT
GRADUALLY STABILIZING LOW-LVL ENVIRONMENT...SUPPORTED IN PART BY
ASCENT ASSOCIATED WITH SRN FRINGE OF EJECTING TN VLY UPR TROUGH.
STRENGTH OF WIND FIELD AND LIKELIHOOD FOR ONLY SLOW WEAKENING OF
EXISTING CONVECTION SUGGESTS A CONTINUED RISK FOR LOCALLY DMGG WIND
AND POSSIBLY A TORNADO FROM THE LWR SAVANNAH RVR VLY OF GA/SC E/NE
ACROSS THE SC CSTL PLN.
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
350. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23050.
...CORFIDISPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 30, 7:56 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Berrien, Brooks, Bulloch and 24 more | 94 min |
| Jan 30, 8:44 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Brantley, Bryan, Camden, Chatham, Effingham, Glynn and 4 more | 61 min |
| Jan 30, 10:42 PM EST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Chatham | 93 min |
| Jan 30, 8:21 PM EST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Marion and 2 more | 6 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 2013Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2013Every tornado watch in 2013
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.