A cluster of strong thunderstorms developed over central and northern Dorchester County. These thunderstorms were moving to the east at 50 mph.
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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.
The episode as NWS CHS wrote it up.
A cluster of strong thunderstorms developed over central and northern Dorchester County. These thunderstorms were moving to the east at 50 mph. Several weak tornadoes developed in this cluster of thunderstorms. There were numerous reports of funnel clouds over central and northern Dorchester County and lower Berkeley County. When the funnels did come in contact with the ground, it was only for short periods of time.
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 May 4, 1:35 PM EST, 5 hours 55 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC 235 PM EDT SAT MAY 4 2002 LAST FEW HOURS HAS SEEN A DECREASE IN AREAL COVG OF PCPN SHIELD ACRS E/CNTRL GA AND THE MIDLANDS OF S/CAROLINA. SFC ANLYS INDICATED FIRST WAVE ON FRONT ALREADY OFF THE COAST OF S/CAROLINA AND SECOND AREA MOVG THRU ERN AL. MODELS ARE IN RELATIVELY GOOD AGREEMENT MOVG THIS SECOND AREA ACRS THE CENTRAL PORTION OF OUR CWA AND STRENGTHENING THE LOW NE OF OUR COASTAL WATERS EARLY SUN MORNING. WIND DIR WILL BE A DIFFICULT CALL OVERNIGHT...BUT WILL INIT WINDS OUT OF THE W/SW ACRS SRN ZONES. WAS INITIALLY INCLINED TO GO LIKELY POPS EARLY FIRST PD...BUT LATEST TREND HAS PUSHED TOWARD A LOWER CHC TONIGHT. SRN ZONES STILL HAVE SEVERAL HOURS OF SUN AND HEAT SO A FEW STRONG TSTMS CAN PUSH E ACRS THAT AREA THIS EVENING IN MODERATE CONVG ZONE. WILL WORD FOR A LOWER CHC OF TSTMS NORTH THOUGH IN COOLER AND MORE STABLE AREA. BY SUN MORNING...WEAK UPR WAVES WILL BE EXITING TO OUR E AND HIGH PRES IS BUILDING DOWN THE COAST USHERING IN DEEP DRYNESS. WILL HANG ON TO A SLGT CHC SHOWERS FOR SRN COASTAL ZONES EARLY SUN. VERY LITTLE CHG ANTICIPATED FOR THE EXTENDD. COOLER TEMPS THRU MON WILL BEGIN TO REBOUND CLOSER TO THE 90 DEG MARK BY MID-WEEK. WILL GO AHEAD AND INSERT A SMALL POP FOR THU AFTN AS AIRMASS MOISTENS AND HEATS UP AHEAD OF WEAKENING FRONT. THAT FRONT IS EXPECTED OFF THE COAST BY EARLY FRI...DRYING OUT THE AIRMASS AND RETURNING TEMPS NEAR NORMAL FOR DAYS 6 AND 7. CWF...FNT NOW MEANDERING JST N OF SAV RVR WL PUSH S OF THE WATERS BY EARLY SUN MRNG. AS ANTICIPATED...SOME OF THE HIER WVS TO THE N HAVE TRANSLATED INTO NRN SC WATERS...WI 5 FT REPORTED PAST FEW HOURS AT 41004. AS FLO BECOMES MORE OFFSHORE WI SFC LOW MOVG AWAY FM AREA TNT...SHUD SEE WVS DIMINISH. WIND DIR WL COME ARND TO N/NW BY EALRY SUN MRNG ALL WATERS...BACK TO NE/E SUN NGT AS HIGH PRES BLDS DOWN THE CST...THEN BECMG E/SE MON AS HIGH MOVES ENE OF THE AREA. PG STL NOT THAT IMPRESSIVE THRU THE CYCLE...SO NO SCA CONDS XPCTD ANYTIME SOON. WL INIT WI SCEC NRN SC WATERS DUE TO WVS. CHS 60 79 61 84 / 40 10 0 0 SAV 62 80 60 85 / 40 20 0 0 CHL 65 77 68 80 / 40 10 0 0 NBC 61 79 61 84 / 40 10 0 0 RBW 57 79 59 84 / 40 10 0 0 .CHS... GA...NONE. SC...NONE.
GAZ087-088-099>101-114>119-137>141-SCZ040-042>045-047>050-050300- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC 310 PM EDT SAT MAY 4 2002 ...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE ACROSS SOUTHEAST GEORGIA AND EXTREME SOUTHERN SOUTH CAROLINA LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT... A NEARLY STATIONARY FRONT ACROSS THE SAVANNAH RIVER WILL SLOWLY LIFT NORTHWARD LATE THIS AFTERNOON. LOW PRESSURE WILL DEVELOP ALONG THE FRONT AND WILL MOVE EASTWARD ACROSS SOUTHEAST GEORGIA AND FAR SOUTHERN SOUTH CAROLINA. THE LOW AND FRONT WILL INTERACT WITH TEMPERATURES IN THE MID TO UPPER 80S AND DEWPOINTS AROUND 70...AND WILL PRODUCE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE AREA LATE THIS AFTERNOON...MAINLY ACROSS SOUTHEAST GEORGIA AND FAR SOUTHERN SOUTH CAROLINA...WHICH WILL CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING HOURS. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE. THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREATS WILL BE WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH...AND LARGE HAIL. SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD MONITOR THE WEATHER AND REMAIN ALERT AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE ACTION IN THE EVENT OF A WATCH OR WARNINGS. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES. WOODWORTH
The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 73 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:29 UTC.
3 tornado, 2 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A tornado touched down briefly just outside of St. George. Several trees had branches that were twisted off and a several trees were pushed over.
Brief tornado touch down in a wooded area several small trees were pushed over and some small limbs were twisted off.
A brief tornado touch down pushed over several trees.
Several large tree limbs were down.
Several power lines were down.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in South Carolina in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for South Carolina, 2002Warnings in South Carolina, May 2002
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: 5296194, 5296195, 5296196, 5296197, 5296198, 5296199.