South Carolina, 2001

Lightning Strike in South Carolina, August 20, 2001

August 20, 2001 · NWS CHS · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
1
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Charleston, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 20, 9:05 AM EST, 4 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 20, 9:05 AM EST, 4 hours 55 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
1005 AM EDT MON AUG 20 2001

12Z CHS SOUNDING PRETTY JUICED UP THIS MORNING AND RADAR VERIFIES
THAT WITH SCATTERED SHRA/TSRA SLIPPING THRU THE COASTAL AREAS NR CHS
AND UP THE COAST. BOTH ETA/AVN SHOW A WELL DEFINED VORT MOVG NE OF
THE CHS AREA BY LATE AFTN.

MODELS SUGGEST DRYING OVER NW PTNS OF THE CWA THIS AFTN AS S/WV AXIS
SLIPS SE. THE BEST CHCS FOR PCPN THIS AFTN WILL BE ACROSS THE SRN GA
ZONES AS ANOTHER S/WV APPROACHES.

PLAN TO UPDATE ZONES TO INCREASE THE POPS TO 40 ACROSS GA ZONES FROM
SAV TO TATTNALL COUNTY SOUTHWARD. WILL KEEP 40 ALG THE SC COAST WITH
ACTIVITY STILL LINGERING AND 20 FAR NW PTN. OTHER THAN A FEW TWEAKS
IN THE RDF...NOT MUCH ELSE.

CWF...GOING FCST RIGHT ON TRACK. WILL MAKE A MINOR TWEAK OR TWO FOR
INITIAL CONDITIONS.

FCSTID = 20
CHS   90  72  90  70 /  40  20  20  10
SAV   92  71  91  68 /  40  20  10  10
CHL   90  75  89  74 /  40  20  20  10
NBC   91  72  91  70 /  40  20  20  10
RBW   92  69  91  67 /  20  10  10  10

.CHS...
GA...NONE.
SC...NONE.

TJR/SLB

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 103 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:01 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Lightning, Charleston

When
August 20, 2:00 PM EST to 2:10 PM EST
Where
Charleston County, Isle of Palms
Injuries
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
32.749, -79.942 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A 32 year old man experienced a double jolt from lightening within a 10 minute span. The man was driving a Toyota pickup when a bolt of lightning struck his CB antenna. This caused the antenna to pop off, it broke out the rear window on the cab and blew out the left rear tire. When he stopped the truck to get out to assess the damage, a second bolt of lightning hit the bed of the pickup and the force threw him out into the roadway.

What these are

Lightning
A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in South Carolina in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in South Carolina, August 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5264380.