Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2014

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 2

January 11, 20144 counties in Georgia; 8 counties in North Carolina; 16 counties in South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Jan 11, 2014, 9:30 AM EST for 4 counties in Georgia; 8 counties in North Carolina; 16 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jan 11, 2014, 9:30 AM EST (14:30 UTC)
Expired
Jan 11, 2014, 3:00 PM EST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
0.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 28 counties

Columbia County, GA, Elbert County, GA, Lincoln County, GA, McDuffie County, GA, Cabarrus County, NC, Cleveland County, NC, Gaston County, NC, Lincoln County, NC, Mecklenburg County, NC, Polk County, NC, Rutherford County, NC, Union County, NC, Abbeville County, SC, Anderson County, SC, Cherokee County, SC, Chester County, SC, Edgefield County, SC, Fairfield County, SC, Greenville County, SC, Greenwood County, SC, Lancaster County, SC, Laurens County, SC, McCormick County, SC, Newberry County, SC, Saluda County, SC, Spartanburg County, SC, Union County, SC, York County, SC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 53 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:33 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
10%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
2%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
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
60%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 11, 9:43 AM ESTTornado WarningGSPAbbeville, Anderson, Greenville, Laurens47 min
Jan 11, 9:51 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCleveland, Henderson, Polk, Rutherford54 min
Jan 11, 10:15 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningGSPCabarrus, Mecklenburg, Union6 hr
Jan 11, 10:19 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEFairfield, Newberry56 min
Jan 11, 10:24 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCleveland, Gaston, Lincoln, Mecklenburg, Rutherford66 min
Jan 11, 10:41 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPAlexander, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba, Iredell, Lincoln49 min
Jan 11, 11:13 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCabarrus, Catawba, Davie, Gaston, Iredell, Lincoln and 3 more62 min
Jan 11, 11:15 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEFairfield, Lancaster, Newberry60 min
Jan 11, 12:09 PM ESTTornado WarningGSPCabarrus21 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, 2.5 hours before the alert went out and 254 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 2014-01-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 496 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 2014-01-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 144 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
496 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
472 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
144 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
149 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
2.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

752 
WWUS20 KWNS 111430
SEL2  
SPC WW 111430
GAZ000-NCZ000-SCZ000-112000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 2
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
930 AM EST SAT JAN 11 2014

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 
  FAR NORTHEAST GEORGIA
  WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
  WESTERN SOUTH CAROLINA

* EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 930 AM UNTIL
  300 PM EST.

* PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE...
  SEVERAL DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 40
STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 85 MILES SOUTH OF
GREENVILLE SOUTH CAROLINA TO 35 MILES NORTHWEST OF CHARLOTTE
NORTH CAROLINA.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU2).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR 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. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY
DO PRODUCE TORNADOES.

&&

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 1...

DISCUSSION...A BOWING LINE SEGMENT MOVING OUT OF THE SOUTHERN
APPALACHIANS WILL INTENSIFY THIS MORNING AS IT ENCOUNTERS AN
INCREASINGLY WARM AND MOIST AIR MASS OVER THE PIEDMONT.  WHILE A
BRIEF TORNADO IS POSSIBLE...DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE THE PRIMARY
HAZARD.

AVIATION...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 26040.


...MEAD

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 11, 8:03 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaker, Baldwin, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts, Calhoun and 53 more27 min
Jan 11, 8:07 AM ESTTornado WatchSPCBaldwin, Barrow, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts, Chattahoochee and 63 more7 hr
Jan 11, 9:22 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCHart23 min
Jan 11, 11:04 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBaker, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brooks, Calhoun, Clay and 20 more6 hr
Jan 11, 11:50 AM ESTTornado WatchSPCBurke, Richmond6 hr
Jan 11, 12:17 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAppling, Bacon, Baldwin, Ben Hill, Bleckley, Bryan and 32 more58 min
Jan 11, 1:51 PM ESTTornado WatchSPCAppling, Atkinson, Bacon, Brantley, Bryan, Bulloch and 20 more3 hr
Jan 11, 1:53 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaker, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brooks, Calhoun, Clay and 23 more97 min
Jan 11, 2:04 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCRichmond56 min
Jan 11, 3:35 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrantley, Bryan, Camden, Charlton, Chatham, Effingham and 8 more55 min
Jan 11, 11:12 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Anson, Caswell, Chatham, Cumberland, Durham and 22 more63 min
Jan 11, 2:13 PM ESTTornado WatchSPCBeaufort, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven, Dare and 13 more5 hr
Jan 11, 2:30 PM ESTTornado WatchSPCBertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Gates, Hertford and 3 more4 hr
Jan 11, 4:14 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBertie, Camden, Chowan, Currituck, Edgecombe, Gates and 6 more61 min
Jan 11, 4:37 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven, Hyde and 5 more53 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in South Carolina, 2014Severe Thunderstorm Watches in North Carolina, 2014Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Georgia, 2014Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2014

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.