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 Wilmington, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 5, 2:05 PM EST, 3 hours 17 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 305 PM EDT MON JUL 5 2004 .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT)... SHORTWAVE AND SURFACE TROUGH TO CROSS THE AREA OVERNIGHT. WITH A LIGHT WESTERLY BREEZE...EXPECT TEMPS TO FALL NO LOWER THAN THE MID 70S ONCE AGAIN TONIGHT. 500 MB RIDGE WILL STRENGTHEN OVER THE AREA TUESDAY AND COUPLED WITH A WESTERLY FLOW AT THE SURFACE...EXPECT TEMPS TO CLIMB A COUPLE OF DEGREES HIGHER THAN TODAY. THIS WOULD LEAD TO MOST LOCATIONS SEEING MID 90S...AND PLACE HEAT INDICES IN THE 100-105 RANGE. HIGHEST HIS LIKELY TO BE EAST OF ANY SEA BREEZE BOUNDARY THAT GETS GOING...AS DEWPOINTS WILL SURGE IN THE MARINE LAYER. TUESDAY NIGHT-WEDNESDAY NIGHT...UPPER RIDGE STILL IN PLACE WITH SURFACE TROUGH INLAND. CONDITIONS MUCH THE SAME AS TONIGHT-TUESDAY. UPPER RIDGE SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO INHIBIT ALL BUT ISOLATED CONVECTION THROUGH THIS PERIOD AND WONT INCLUDE POPS. && .LONG TERM (THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY)... UPPER RIDGE SHIFTS OFFSHORE AND ENVIRONMENT WILL BE MORE CONDUCIVE FOR SCATTERED CONVECTION THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...PERHAPS FOCUSING ON THE SURFACE TROUGH THAT SLIDES TO THE COAST ON FRIDAY. THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND...THE 500 MB RIDGE REBUILDS WITH THE AXIS WEST OF THE CWA. THIS SCENARIO RESULTS IN WEAK NW FLOW OVERHEAD ALTHOUGH DYNAMICS WELL NORTH. HOWEVER WITH AN UNSTABLE AIRMASS IN PLACE...ANY CONVECTION THAT GETS GOING UPSTREAM COULD MAINTAIN ITSELF LONG ENOUGH TO IMPACT THE AREA. FOR NOW WILL LEAVE A 20 POP IN PLACE ALTHOUGH THIS WONT SHOW UP IN THE ZFP. && .MARINE... DIFFUSE TROF OF LOW PRESSURE THE WESTERN CAROLINAS THIS AFTERNOON WILL CROSS THE WATERS TONIGHT. SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT FOR AT LEAST A BRIEF SWITCH TO NW WINDS. OTHERWISE THE PATTERN WILL BE DOMINATED BY HIGH PRESSURE CENTERED TO THE SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST OF THE WATERS...AND LATER IN THE PERIOD WILL SEE TROFINESS OVER THE INLAND CAROLINAS AGAIN. FRI AND SAT A LITTLE TRICKY AS THE GFS TRIES TO BRING THE BOUNDARY INTO THE EASTERN CAROLINAS...BUT WILL MAINTAIN A SOUTHERLY WIND DIRECTION. SPEEDS 15 KT OR LESS AND SEAS 2-3 FT THROUGH THE PERIOD...WELL BELOW ANY FLAG CRITERIA. && .AVIATION... MAINLY VFR CONDITIONS EXPECTED NEXT 24 HRS. DOES NOT LOOK LIKE THE BOUNDARY LAYER WILL DECOUPLE COMPLETELY TONIGHT...BUT MIGHT SEE WINDS LAY DOWN JUST ENOUGH FOR A BRIEF DROP TO 3SM AT KFLO JUST BEFORE SUNRISE TUE. && .ILM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...NONE. SC...NONE. MARINE...NONE. && SHORT TERM...CRM LONG TERM...CRM AVIATION...RAS MARINE...RAS
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 450 AM EDT MON JUL 5 2004 NCZ087-096-097-099>101-SCZ017-023-024-032>034-039-046-051101- BLADEN-BRUNSWICK-COLUMBUS-DARLINGTON-DILLON-FLORENCE-GEORGETOWN- HORRY-MARION-MARLBORO-NEW HANOVER-PENDER-ROBESON-WILLIAMSBURG- 450 AM EDT MON JUL 5 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND NORTHEASTERN SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY HOT AND MUGGY CONDITIONS EXPECTED TODAY ACROSS THE CAROLINAS. THE HEAT INDEX WILL BE 100 TO 105 DEGREES THIS AFTERNOON...ESPECIALLY AWAY FROM THE COAST. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY HOT AND HUMID CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MID-WEEK WITH HEAT INDICES RANGING FROM 100 TO 105 DURING TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. OTHERWISE...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. SRP
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck the Ritz Theater building, causing damage to Shirley's Balloons, which joins the old theater.
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, July 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: 5415864.