Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Watches in 2021
Tornado Watch 129
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 3, 2021, 1:25 PM EDT for 6 counties in Georgia; 8 counties in North Carolina; 24 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 3, 2021, 1:25 PM EDT (17:25 UTC)
- Expired
- May 3, 2021, 7:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 1 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 38 counties
Burke County, GA, Columbia County, GA, Elbert County, GA, Lincoln County, GA, McDuffie County, GA, Richmond County, GA, Anson County, NC, Cabarrus County, NC, Mecklenburg County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Union County, NC, Abbeville County, SC, Aiken County, SC, Bamberg County, SC, Barnwell County, SC, Calhoun County, SC, Chester County, SC, Chesterfield County, SC, Clarendon County, SC, Edgefield County, SC, Fairfield County, SC, Greenwood County, SC, Kershaw County, SC, Lancaster County, SC, Laurens County, SC, Lee County, SC, Lexington County, SC, McCormick County, SC, Newberry County, SC, Orangeburg County, SC, Richland County, SC, Saluda County, SC, Sumter County, SC, Union County, SC, York County, SC
The radar
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 30 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:28 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
- 20%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 10%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 10%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 50%
Warnings issued inside it
30 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 1:34 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Elbert | 41 min |
| May 3, 1:56 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Elbert | 49 min |
| May 3, 2:09 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Abbeville, Greenwood | 51 min |
| May 3, 2:10 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Elbert | 18 min |
| May 3, 2:22 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Elbert | 38 min |
| May 3, 2:32 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Montgomery, Moore, Randolph | 32 min |
| May 3, 2:43 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Abbeville | 18 min |
| May 3, 2:49 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Greenwood, Laurens | 41 min |
| May 3, 2:59 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Abbeville, Greenwood | 26 min |
| May 3, 3:05 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Newberry | 40 min |
| May 3, 3:23 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Greenwood, Laurens | 34 min |
| May 3, 3:24 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Newberry, Saluda | 51 min |
| May 3, 3:28 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Lexington, Saluda | 32 min |
| May 3, 3:28 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Greenwood | 32 min |
| May 3, 3:32 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Newberry | 43 min |
| May 3, 3:39 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Lexington | 21 min |
| May 3, 3:51 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Lincoln | 39 min |
| May 3, 3:59 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Lexington, Richland | 31 min |
| May 3, 4:03 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Kershaw, Richland, Sumter | 27 min |
| May 3, 4:05 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Lexington, Newberry, Richland, Saluda | 40 min |
| May 3, 4:19 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Kershaw, Lee, Sumter | 26 min |
| May 3, 4:22 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Calhoun, Kershaw, Lexington, Richland | 23 min |
| May 3, 4:27 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Burke | 48 min |
| May 3, 4:30 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Lexington, Richland | 15 min |
| May 3, 4:41 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Lee, Sumter | 34 min |
| May 3, 4:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Kershaw, Lee, Richland, Sumter | 31 min |
| May 3, 5:14 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Clarendon, Lee, Richland, Sumter | 46 min |
| May 3, 5:51 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Burke | 24 min |
| May 3, 6:01 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Bamberg, Barnwell | 44 min |
| May 3, 6:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Bamberg, Orangeburg | 46 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, 5.4 hours before the alert went out and 186 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
- 1333 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -30 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 765 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 45 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 128 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 141 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.9
- Supercell composite
- 5.0
The text
As transmitted.
417 WWUS20 KWNS 031723 SEL9 SPC WW 031723 GAZ000-NCZ000-SCZ000-032300- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED Tornado Watch Number 129 NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 125 PM EDT Mon May 3 2021 The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a * Tornado Watch for portions of Far eastern Georgia Southern North Carolina Western and central South Carolina * Effective this Monday afternoon and evening from 125 PM until 700 PM EDT. * Primary threats include... A couple tornadoes possible Isolated damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible SUMMARY...Multiple clusters will evolve east-northeast with embedded supercells capable of producing a couple tornadoes through this afternoon. The tornado watch area is approximately along and 55 statute miles east and west of a line from 10 miles southeast of Augusta GA to 45 miles west northwest of Southern Pines NC. For a complete depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS WOU9). PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... 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 127...WW 128... 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 500. Mean storm motion vector 27025. ...Grams
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 10:04 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barrow, Butts, Carroll, Clayton, Cobb, Coweta and 15 more | 86 min |
| May 3, 10:29 AM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Baldwin, Barrow, Bartow, Bibb, Butts, Carroll and 45 more | 5 hr |
| May 3, 11:20 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clayton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Rockdale | 55 min |
| May 3, 1:03 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barrow, Butts, Clarke, Clayton, Cobb, Columbia and 30 more | 87 min |
| May 3, 3:05 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Barrow, Bibb, Butts, Carroll, Chattahoochee and 36 more | 55 min |
| May 3, 3:23 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Baldwin, Barrow, Bibb, Butts, Carroll, Chattahoochee and 55 more | 6 hr |
| May 3, 4:26 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Richmond | 94 min |
| May 3, 5:00 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Bibb, Butts, Calhoun, Carroll, Chattahoochee and 45 more | 90 min |
| May 3, 12:35 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Carteret, Columbus, Craven and 20 more | 115 min |
| May 3, 2:42 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Abbeville, Greenwood, Laurens, Newberry, Union | 63 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 2021Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2021Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2021Every tornado watch in 2021
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.