1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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 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 Wilmington, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 7, 9:00 AM EST, 4 hours 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
1000 AM EDT TUE SEP 7 2004
SHORT TERM (THIS AFTERNOON)
STILL EXPECT THE CWA TO BE AFFECTED BY HEAVY RAINS ASSOCIATED WITH
TD FRANCES AND WILL LEAVE FLOOD WATCH AS IS. SEVERE WEATHER HAS SO
FAR REMAINED JUST TO OUR SOUTH AND WEST...FOLLOWING THE NOSE OF THE H8
JET. SHOULD THIS TREND CONTINUE MOST OF THE AREA SHOULD BE SPARED MUCH
IN THE WAY OF SEVERE WX...WITH THE EXCEPTION OF THE WESTERNMOST
COUNITES. WILL ISSUE AN UPDATE TO FRESHEN WORDING AT THIS POINT.
ANOTHER UPDATE WILL ALSO BE NEEDED BY 2PM AS THE SC TORNADO WATCH
EXPIRES OR GETS EXTENDED.
&&
.MARINE...
FRANCES WILL CONTINUE TO LIFT NORTH AND INTO THE SOUTHERN
APPALACHIANS TODAY. DEEP E TO SE FLOW WILL KEEP SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS NUMEROUS AT TIMES ACROSS THE AREA.
BUOYS THIS MORNING REPORTING 6 TO 7 FT SEAS. 41013 HAS A SE WIND AT
15 TO 20 KT. GRADIENT BETWEEN HIGH PRESSURE TO NE AND LOW PRESSURE
TO SW WILL CONTINUE TO TIGHTEN AND SO WINDS OF AROUND 20 KT LOOKS
GOOD. SEAS SHOULD STAY FAIRLY CLOSE TO CURRENT HEIGHTS ESPECIALLY
WITH SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS KEEPING THE SEA AGITATED.
WITH TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT...WILL CONTINUE TO MENTION POSSIBLE
WATERSPOUTS...BUT ALL OF THE ACTION SO FAR TODAY HAS BEEN WELL W OF
THE WATERS AND ACROSS CAE FORECAST AREA.
&&
.AVIATION...
08/12Z. SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS WITH MODERATE TO HEAVY
RAIN...AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...WILL BE
POSSIBLE AT ALL TERMINALS THROUGH 08/12Z. DIFFICULT TO PEG EXACT
TIMING OF THE BANDS OF CONVECTION MOVING THROUGH. BUT BASICALLY
TERMINALS WILL HAVE PREDOMINATELY SCATTERED TO BROKEN MVFR CEILINGS
AND VFR VISIBILITIES...WITH TEMPO IFR CONDITIONS ASSOCIATED WITH
PRECIPITATION. WINDS GUSTING FROM THE EAST AND EAST SOUTHEAST AS
HIGH AS 20 KNOTS...GRADUALLY VEERING TO SOUTHEAST 08/09Z.
&&
.ILM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
NC...FLOOD WATCH PENDER-NEW HANOVER-BRUNSWICK-BLADEN-COLUMBUS-
ROBESON COUNTIES.
SC...FLOOD WATCH HORRY-GEORGETOWN-MARION-WILLIAMSBURG-FLORENCE-
DARLINGTON-DILLON-MARLBORO COUNTIES
TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 2 PM HORRY-GEORGETOWN-MARION-
WILLIAMSBURG-FLORENCE-DARLINGTON-DILLON-MARLBORO COUNTIES.
MARINE...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY SURF CITY TO S SANTEE RIVER.
PUBLIC...MBB
MARINE...RJD
AVIATION...MRRHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 520 AM EDT TUE SEP 7 2004 NCZ087-096-097-099>101-SCZ017-023-024-032>034-039-046-081000- BLADEN-BRUNSWICK-COLUMBUS-DARLINGTON-DILLON-FLORENCE-GEORGETOWN- HORRY-MARION-MARLBORO-NEW HANOVER-PENDER-ROBESON-WILLIAMSBURG- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...BENNETTSVILLE...BURGAW...DARLINGTON... DILLON...ELIZABETHTOWN...FLORENCE...GEORGETOWN...KINGSTREE... LUMBERTON...MARION...MYRTLE BEACH...SOUTHPORT...WHITEVILLE... WILMINGTON...WRIGHTSVILLE BEACH 520 AM EDT TUE SEP 7 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND NORTHEASTERN SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY ...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM FOR NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA...SEE THE LATEST ZONE FORECAST FOR YOUR SPECIFIC COUNTY WATCH INFORMATION... ...A FLOOD WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA AND NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA THROUGH WEDNESDAY... ...THERE IS A HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS ALONG ALL AREA BEACHES TODAY... TROPICAL DEPRESSION FRANCES WILL MOVE NORTH THROUGH GEORGIA TODAY. DEEP MOISTURE FROM BOTH THE GULF OF MEXICO AND THE ATLANTIC OCEAN WILL OVERSPREAD THE AREA TODAY. THIS WILL CREATE THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY...AND POSSIBLY FLOODING RAINFALL. VEERING WINDS COULD ALSO CAUSE ISOLATED TORNADOES TO DEVELOP. STAY TUNED TO THE LATEST INFORMATION FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY TROPICAL DEPRESSION FRANCES WILL CROSS INTO WEST VIRGINIA WEDNESDAY AND MOVE INTO THE NORTHEASTERN U.S. THURSDAY. A TRAILING TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE WILL STALL ACROSS THE AREA THIS WEEKEND AND MAY PRODUCE A FEW SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS. CHANCES FOR RAIN SHOULD RAPIDLY DIMINISH THURSDAY. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS LIKELY ACROSS SOUTH CAROLINA FOR THE ISOLATED TORNADO THREAT TODAY. TORNADOES ARE LESS LIKELY ACROSS NORTH CAROLINA...BUT THIS THREAT WILL NEED TO BE MONITORED THROUGHOUT THE DAY. && FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION...PLEASE SEE OUR WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.ERH.NOAA.GOV/ILM RJD
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
1255 PM EDT TUE SEP 07 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1240 PM TORNADO 6 NE FLORENCE 34.26N 79.69W
09/07/2004 FLORENCE SC FIRE DEPT/RESCUE
TORNADO REPORTED BY LOCAL FIRE DEPARTMENT OFF OF HIGHWAY
327 NEAR WILLIAMSON ROAD.
&&
JANPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
1258 PM EDT TUE SEP 07 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
1238 PM TORNADO 3 NE FLORENCE 34.23N 79.73W
09/07/2004 FLORENCE SC PUBLIC
TORNADO ON THE GROUND 3 MILES NORTHEAST OF THE AIRPORT.
&&
JANThe Wilmington radar (KLTX), 77 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:06 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A tornado crossed into Robeson county from Columbus county with spotty tree damage, finally dissipating east of Proctorville.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for North Carolina, 2004Warnings in North Carolina, September 2004
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: 5423729.