Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings
Tornado Warnings in South Carolina, 2011
50 tornado warnings in 2011. An alert counts here when it covered any part of the state, so the counties below add up to more than the state. The archive of tornado warnings reaches back to 1986.
Tornado Warnings by county
Each county as a circle sized by its count in 2011. Tap one for its archive.
- Tornado Warnings
- 50
- Busiest month
- April30 tornado warnings
- Busiest day
- April 16, 201115 tornado warnings
Over time
By month
Warning verification
How often warnings here had a storm report inside them, and how much warning the reports had.
18 of 50 tornado warnings covering South Carolina in 2011 had a tornado report inside them; 24 of 26 tornado reports fell inside a warning, on average 20 minutes after it went out.
South Carolina, 2011
| Warnings | With a report | False alarm ratio | Reports | Inside a warning | Mean lead time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tornado warnings | 50 | 18 | 64% | 26 | 92% | 20 min |
Each office's whole area, 2011
| Warnings | With a report | False alarm ratio | Reports | Inside a warning | Mean lead time | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NWS Charleston, SC: tornado warnings | 9 | 2 | 78% | 10 | 90% | 21 min |
| NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC: tornado warnings | 42 | 11 | 74% | 25 | 96% | 21 min |
| NWS Columbia, SC: tornado warnings | 13 | 8 | 38% | 11 | 100% | 15 min |
| NWS Wilmington, NC: tornado warnings | 32 | 10 | 69% | 18 | 78% | 23 min |
An office's figures cover every county it serves, including across state lines.
Verified by the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow, which matches each storm-based warning with the local storm reports inside its polygon while it was in force, within 15 km of its edge: a tornado warning counts as verified on a tornado report, a severe thunderstorm warning on hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more, or wind damage, a flash flood warning on a flash flood report. The false alarm ratio is the share of warnings with no such report; "inside a warning" is the probability of detection, the share of reports that fell inside one; lead time runs from the warning's issue to each report inside it, counting zero for a report that came first. A warning with no report is not proof nothing happened: reports come from spotters, the public and damage surveys, and are thin where few people live.
The alerts
Every alert, in the order issued. Times are local, Eastern Time. Each opens its own page with the text, the map, the radar and the sounding.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 28, 4:59 PM EST | Tornado Warning | GSP | Greenville, Spartanburg | 31 min |
| Feb 28, 6:25 PM EST | Tornado Warning | GSP | Abbeville, Greenwood, Laurens | 35 min |
| Feb 28, 6:57 PM EST | Tornado Warning | GSP | Greenwood, Laurens | 14 min |
| Feb 28, 7:13 PM EST | Tornado Warning | CAE | Fairfield, Lexington, Newberry, Richland, Saluda | 47 min |
| Mar 19, 5:42 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Greenwood, Laurens | 48 min |
| Mar 19, 6:26 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Newberry, Saluda | 34 min |
| Mar 19, 6:30 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Greenwood | 30 min |
| Apr 5, 4:39 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | CHS | Allendale, Colleton, Hampton | 40 min |
| Apr 9, 5:24 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | York | 36 min |
| Apr 9, 6:01 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Lancaster | 44 min |
| Apr 9, 6:06 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | York | 12 min |
| Apr 16, 12:07 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Dillon, Horry, Marion | 37 min |
| Apr 16, 1:56 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Chesterfield | 19 min |
| Apr 16, 2:48 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Darlington, Dillon, Marlboro | 42 min |
| Apr 16, 3:12 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Clarendon | 33 min |
| Apr 16, 3:27 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Dillon, Marlboro | 48 min |
| Apr 16, 4:12 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Clarendon | 33 min |
| Apr 16, 4:17 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Dillon, Horry, Marion | 58 min |
| Apr 16, 4:18 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Florence, Williamsburg | 42 min |
| Apr 16, 4:53 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CHS | Berkeley | 37 min |
| Apr 16, 5:03 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Marion, Williamsburg | 42 min |
| Apr 16, 5:03 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Dillon, Horry | 57 min |
| Apr 16, 5:28 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CHS | Berkeley | 32 min |
| Apr 16, 5:28 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Georgetown, Williamsburg | 47 min |
| Apr 16, 5:53 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CHS | Berkeley | 52 min |
| Apr 16, 6:19 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Georgetown | 26 min |
| Apr 27, 11:22 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Oconee, Pickens | 38 min |
| Apr 28, 12:04 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Oconee | 41 min |
| Apr 28, 12:21 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Oconee | 39 min |
| Apr 28, 12:54 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Oconee, Pickens | 51 min |
| Apr 28, 1:31 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Greenville, Oconee, Pickens | 44 min |
| Apr 28, 7:30 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Calhoun, Clarendon, Richland, Sumter | 45 min |
| Apr 28, 8:05 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Lee, Sumter | 25 min |
| Apr 28, 8:31 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Florence, Marion | 24 min |
| Apr 28, 10:16 AM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Dillon, Florence, Horry, Marion | 44 min |
| Apr 28, 12:15 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Dillon, Marlboro | 34 min |
| Apr 28, 12:42 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Dillon | 48 min |
| May 10, 5:39 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Horry | 30 min |
| May 10, 7:24 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Georgetown, Williamsburg | 51 min |
| May 26, 9:52 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | York | 38 min |
| Jun 19, 5:22 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Greenville, Laurens, Spartanburg | 23 min |
| Sep 5, 3:14 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | York | 46 min |
| Sep 5, 5:13 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Fairfield, Newberry | 47 min |
| Sep 5, 6:47 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CAE | Lancaster | 28 min |
| Sep 25, 3:24 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CHS | Hampton | 51 min |
| Nov 16, 3:55 PM EST | Tornado Warning | GSP | Abbeville, Anderson, Greenville, Greenwood, Laurens | 50 min |
| Nov 16, 4:36 PM EST | Tornado Warning | GSP | Laurens, Spartanburg, Union | 39 min |
| Nov 16, 5:05 PM EST | Tornado Warning | GSP | Chester, Union, York | 40 min |
| Nov 16, 5:36 PM EST | Tornado Warning | CAE | Lancaster | 33 min |
| Nov 16, 5:49 PM EST | Tornado Warning | CAE | Aiken, Barnwell | 41 min |
By county
Every county with at least one alert. A county page lists each alert that covered it.
- Dillon County8
- Laurens County6
- Horry County6
- Greenwood County5
- York County5
- Marion County5
- Oconee County5
- Greenville County4
- Florence County4
- Williamsburg County4
- Georgetown County4
- Spartanburg County3
- Newberry County3
- Lancaster County3
- Marlboro County3
- Clarendon County3
- Berkeley County3
- Pickens County3
- Abbeville County2
- Fairfield County2
- Richland County2
- Saluda County2
- Hampton County2
- Sumter County2
- Union County2
- Lexington County1
- Allendale County1
- Colleton County1
- Chesterfield County1
- Darlington County1
- Calhoun County1
- Lee County1
- Anderson County1
- Chester County1
- Aiken County1
- Barnwell County1
The busiest days
Days with the most alerts issued, by UTC date.
Nearby
Alerts in force nowTornadoes on recordThe radar archive20102012
Sources
National Weather Service watches, warnings, advisories and statements from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's VTEC archive, which reconstructs tornado, severe thunderstorm, flash flood and marine warnings back to 1986 from the NWS text archive. Storm Prediction Center watches and mesoscale discussions from SPC's archive through the Mesonet. County centers from the US Census Bureau. Warning verification from the Mesonet's Cow. Rebuilt daily.