1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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 Greenville-Spartanburg, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 18, 9:30 AM EST, 2 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 1030 AM EDT WED AUG 18 2004 .SHORT TERM (REST OF TODAY)... 12Z AREA SNDGS CERTAINLY SUPPORT THIS AFTERNOON/S WEST TO EAST POP GRADIENT ACRS THE CWFA WITH OBSERVED K INDEX VALUES OF 38 AT KGSO AND ONLY 3 AT KFFC. 12Z UA CHARTS INDICATING S/WV JUST UPSTREAM AT 70H/50H YET UNFAVORABLE UPPER JET POSITION WITH RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION CIRCULATION NEAR THE CWFA YESTERDAY NOW TRANSLATED OFFSHORE. IN THE LLVLS...FAIRLY MOIST SFC-85H AIRMASS IN PLACE...BUT SOME WESTERLY 85H FLOW JUST UPSTREAM. 12Z SFC CHART CONTINUES TO INDICATE IMMEDIATE LEE TROUGH AND SOME SMALLER SCALE BNDYS TO FOCUS DEEP CONVECTION. LIFTING PARCELS THIS MORNING YIELDED MODERATE MLCAPES OFF THE KGSO SNDG WITH EXPECTEDLY LESS...EVEN CAPPED AIRMASS...OFF THE DRY KFFC SNDG...THANKS IN PART TO A WARM 70H TEMP OF +9C. A QUICK GLANCE AT THE INCOMING 12Z ETA INTERESTINGLY DEVELOPS NO CONVECTIVE PCPN ACRS THE CWFA THRU 00Z DESPITE KEEPING IDENTITY OF LEE TROUGH AND ROTATING THROUGH A DECENT ENUF LOOKING VORT. IT DOES INDICATE FAIRLY STRONG UPPER LEVEL CONFLUENCE CONTINUING. IN SUMMARY...TO MANY CONFLICTING PARAMETERS TO WARRANT DROPPING ANY POPS AT THIS POINT. && .PREVIOUS DISCUSSION... THE FOLLOWING WAS ORIGINALLY ISSUED AT 741 AM EDT WED AUG 18 2004 SHORT TERM (REST OF TODAY)... CONVECTIVE CLUSTER IS FINALLY FALLING APART ACROSS THE NC PIEDMONT. WILL UPDATE TO REMOVE HIGH CHANCE AND LIKELY POPS FROM THE FORECAST. HOWEVER...DID EXTEND LOW CHANCE POPS WESTWARD TO THE BLUE RIDGE FOR THIS AFTERNOON. THE GFS AND ETA MAINTAIN LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE IN THE LEE...AND CONSIDERING FORECAST INSTABILITY PARAMETERS...FEEL THAT ITS PRUDENT TO BUMP POPS UP IN THE NC FOOTHILLS AND CENTRAL AND EASTERN SECTIONS OF THE UPSTATE. NO OTHER CHANGES ARE PLANNED. THE FOLLOWING WAS ORIGINALLY ISSUED AT 349 AM EDT WED AUG 18 2004 SHORT TERM (TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT)... BROKEN LINE OF FAIRLY VIGOROUS CONVECTION EXTENDS FROM THE NORTHWEST NC PIEDMONT TO THE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG AREA ATTM. THIS CONVECTION DEVELOPED EARLIER ALONG A SURFACE BOUNDARY/CONVERGENT AXIS NEAR THE BLUE RIDGE...AND UNDERNEATH A COLD TROUGH AT H7. CONVECTION IS BEING FUELED BY CAPES IN EXCESS OF 1500 J/KG...RESULTING FROM LOWER 70S DEWPOINTS WHICH HAVE POOLED ALONG THE BOUNDARY COMBINED WITH THE COOL MID LEVEL TEMPS. SURFACE OBS ALSO INDICATE THERE IS STILL DECENT CONVERGENCE ALONG THE LEADING EDGE OF THE CONVECTION. THEREFORE...CONVECTION SHOULD MAINTAIN ITSELF ACROSS THE PIEDMONT FOR AT LEAST A COUPLE OF MORE HOURS. WILL INDICATES HIGH CHANCE TO LIKELY POPS EARLY THIS MORNING IN THE NC PIEDMONT...AND THE NORTHEAST UPSTATE. LATER TODAY...THE H7 COLD POOL AND ATTENDANT TROUGH WILL SLIDE EAST OF THE REGION BY AFTERNOON. RESULTING IN VEERED LOW LEVEL FLOW AND A DRIER ATMOSPHERE. THEREFORE...THE BEST CHANCES OF PRECIP SHOULD BE THIS MORNING...BUT WILL MAINTAIN A LOW CHANCE POP THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS THE EASTERN ZONES...CLOSER TO THE DEEPER MOISTURE. SLIGHT CHANCES WILL BE CARRIED ELSEWHERE. THURSDAY...SW RIDGING MOVES OVER THE AREA...WITH LOW LEVEL WESTERLY FLOW PERSISTING. HOWEVER...THE AREA WILL ONCE AGAIN BECOME MODERATELY UNSTABLE...SO WILL MAINTAIN A SLIGHT CHANCE OF CONVECTION IN THE GRIDS. THURSDAY NIGHT AND EARLY FRIDAY...A WEAK TROUGH RIDES UP THE RIDGE AND OVER THE AREA...POSSIBLY ENHANCING PRECIP CHANCES BY 12Z FRIDAY...BUT FOR NOW WILL JUST CARRY A SLIGHT CHANCE IN THE GRIDS FRIDAY MORNING. LONG TERM (FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY)... BETTER CHANCES FOR CONVECTION ARRIVE FRIDAY AFTERNOON...AS DEEP MOISTURE INCREASES ACROSS THE AREA AHEAD OF APPROACHING FRONTAL SYSTEM. THIS FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL MOVE SLOWLY TOWARD AND ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH DAY 5...SETTING THE STAGE FOR A WET WEEKEND. NO CHANGES ARE REQUIRED TO THE CURRENT EXTENDED FORECAST. AVIATION... BROKEN LINE OF TSRA MOVING ACROSS THE CWFA ATTM. AFFECTS AT KAND ENDING SOON...BUT WILL CONTINUE A COUPLE OF MORE HOURS AT KGSP. ONLY INCLUDED VCTS AT KCLT FOR NOW. UNCERTAIN WHETHER BREAK NEAR NC/SC LINE WILL FILL BACK IN. AMENDMENT FOR TEMPO TSRA MAY BE NEEDED BY 10Z OR SO. OTHERWISE MVFR VSBY AND LOW MVFR TO IFR CIGS PREDOMINANT ACROSS THE CWFA ATTM. EXPECT MVFR FOG WITH TEMPO IFR TO HOLD THRU DAYBREAK...XCPT AT KAVL WHERE IFR VSBY AND CIG WILL PREVAIL. COULD EVEN BE LIFR THERE. BRING ALL LOCATIONS TO VFR BY 14Z...XCPT KAVL AT 16Z. MDLS AND CURRENT CONDITIONS INDICATE THAT CONVECTIVE CHANCES WILL BE BETTER IN THE EASTERN SECTIONS TODAY. THEREFORE HAVE ONLY INCLUDED AFT VCTS AT KCLT. WILL LIKELY INCLUDE MVFR FOG TOWARD MORNING FOR ALL LOCATIONS AT THE 12Z TAF ISSUANCE. && .GSP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. && SHORT TERM (UPDATE)...CSH
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 559 AM EDT WED AUG 18 2004 GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-191000- ABBEVILLE SC-ALEXANDER NC-ANDERSON SC-AVERY NC-BUNCOMBE NC-BURKE NC- CABARRUS NC-CALDWELL NC-CATAWBA NC-CHEROKEE SC-CHESTER SC- CLEVELAND NC-DAVIE NC-ELBERT GA-FRANKLIN GA-GASTON NC-GRAHAM NC- GREATER GREENVILLE SC-GREATER OCONEE SC-GREATER PICKENS SC- GREENVILLE MOUNTAINS SC-GREENWOOD SC-HABERSHAM GA-HART GA-HAYWOOD NC- HENDERSON NC-IREDELL NC-LAURENS SC-LINCOLN NC-MACON NC-MADISON NC- MCDOWELL NC-MECKLENBURG NC-MITCHELL NC-NORTHERN JACKSON NC- OCONEE MOUNTAINS SC-PICKENS MOUNTAINS SC-POLK NC-RABUN GA-ROWAN NC- RUTHERFORD NC-SOUTHERN JACKSON NC-SPARTANBURG SC-STEPHENS GA- SWAIN NC-TRANSYLVANIA NC-UNION SC-UNION NC-YANCEY NC-YORK SC- 559 AM EDT WED AUG 18 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA... UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAY ONE... AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT THE NORTH CAROLINA PIEDMONT THIS MORNING. SLOW MOVEMENT OF THESE SHOWERS AND STORMS COULD RESULT IN LOCALIZED FLOODING. ISOLATED TO WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON. SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL...AND POSSIBLY BRIEF PERIODS OF DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... ISOLATED TO WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING ON THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. SHOWERS AND STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME A BIT MORE WIDESPREAD OVER THE WEEKEND...AS A COLD FRONT MOVES OVER THE AREA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. LANE
The Greer radar (KGSP), 79 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:51 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning ignited fires at 2 homes, causing significant damage to both.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in South Carolina in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in South Carolina, August 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: 5419779.