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 May 22, 1:00 PM EST, 3 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 200 PM EDT SAT MAY 22 2004 .DISCUSSION... CONVECTIVE TEMPERATURE HAS BEEN REACHED MANY PLACES AND EXPECTED ACTIVITY BEGINNING TO FIRE UP IN RESPONSE. NOTHING EXCITING YET OVER THE ILM CWA...MAINLY SOME CU ALONG THE SEA BREEZE BOUNDARY...BUT SEEING RAPID TSTM GROWTH TO OUR WEST AND SOUTHWEST. THINK THAT THIS MORNINGS ACTIVITY FROM THE OLD OUTFLOW BOUNDARY STABILIZED THE ATMOSPHERE SOMEWHAT BUT THIS SHOULD WEAR OFF BEFORE TOO LONG AS TEMPERATURES CONTINUE TO CLIMB AND THE ATMOSPHERE MIXES OUT MORE. WILL KEEP CHANCE POPS IN AWAY FROM THE COAST AND SLIGHT CHANCE ALONG THE COAST FOR THIS EVENING. LATEST GFS FINALLY SHOWS WHAT LOOKS TO BE A WELL DEFINED COLD FROPA ON THURSDAY. HAVE LOWERED TEMPS FRI AND SAT A BIT CLOSER TO SEASONAL NORMS IN RESPONSE ALTHOUGH THINK THAT IT IS STILL TOO EARLY TO BE ABLE TO PRECISELY TIME THE FRONT. UNTIL THURSDAY THE WESTWARD EXTENSION OF THE ATLANTIC RIDGE WILL CONTINUE A WARM MOIST SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ACROSS THE AREA...BRINGING US TEMPERATURES UP TO 3 CATEGORIES ABOVE CLIMO AND ISOLATED TO WIDELY SCATTERED DIURNAL CONVECTION. && .MARINE... HIGH PRES REMAINS OFF THE SE COAST WITH SW FLOW CONTINUING OVER THE WATERS AS SFC HIGH BECOMES ELONGATED SW TO NE. NOCTURNAL JET WILL HELP SUSTAIN 15 KT WINDS OVERNIGHT WHILE DAILY SEA BREEZES KEEP 15 KT WINDS GOING DURING THE DAY. WED NIGHT INTO THU THE GFS PUSHES A COLD FRONT ACROSS THE WATERS. NOT VERY CONFIDENT THAT FRONT WILL BE MORE THAN A WEAK TROF/WIND SHIFT LINE WHEN IT DOES FINALLY MOVE INTO THE REGION. SLIGHT INCREASE IN WINDS AHEAD OF THIS FEATURE WED INTO THU WITH A MINOR WIND SHIFT ON THU. && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... WILMINGTON 71 86 71 88 / 20 20 20 20 FLORENCE 70 89 69 90 / 30 30 30 20 LUMBERTON 69 90 69 90 / 30 30 30 20 MYRTLE BEACH 71 83 71 84 / 20 20 20 20 && .ILM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NC...NONE. SC...NONE. && PUBLIC: KREITNER MARINE: TRL
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 443 AM EDT SAT MAY 22 2004 NCZ087-096-097-099>101-SCZ017-023-024-032>034-039-046-231000- BLADEN-BRUNSWICK-COLUMBUS-DARLINGTON-DILLON-FLORENCE-GEORGETOWN- HORRY-MARION-MARLBORO-NEW HANOVER-PENDER-ROBESON-WILLIAMSBURG- 453 AM EDT SAT MAY 22 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND NORTHEASTERN SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED...MAINLY THIS AFTERNOON. THERE IS THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY SHOWERS AND A FEW MAY BECOME SEVERE...ESPECIALLY OVER THE INLAND COUNTIES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THE POTENTIAL WILL CONTINUE FOR SCATTERED MAINLY AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NECESSARY THIS AFTERNOON...MAINLY OVER INLAND COUNTIES. TM
The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 103 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:16 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck the parent's house of a trained spotter, damaging the air conditioning unit.
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, May 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: 5402407.