A shortwave moving across the area during the afternoon produced severe thunderstorms that contained damaging winds and hail.
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 episode as NWS CAE wrote it up.
A shortwave moving across the area during the afternoon produced severe thunderstorms that contained damaging winds and hail.
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 Columbia, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 21, 12:50 PM EST, 3 hours 38 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
150 PM EDT MON JUL 21 2008
.SYNOPSIS...
A COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE REGION WEDNESDAY...BRINGING WITH
IT ANOTHER CHANCE FOR PRECIP.
&&
.NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/...
AIRMASS MODERATELY UNSTABLE THIS AFTERNOON. RADAR INDICATING
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING NORTHWEST OF CAE. THESE STORMS
MAY DEVELOP TO THE SOUTHEAST DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS. BEST
INSTABILITY APPEARS TO BE ACROSS THE PIEDMONT AND NORTH MIDLANDS.
ANY THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD DISSIPATE AFTER SUNSET AND EXPECT MOSTLY
CLEAR CONDITIONS OVERNIGHT. TEMPERATURES SLIGHTLY WARMER THAN LAST
NIGHT.
&&
.SHORT TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/...
MORE DEFINED PIEDMONT SURFACE TROUGH TUESDAY...SHOULD BE A LITTLE
WARMER WITH WEAK WARM ADVECTION NOTED. WILL ISSUE HEAT ADVISORY
WITH HEAT INDEX VALUES LIKELY 105 IN THE AFTERNOON. APPEARS
SLIGHTLY COOLER ALOFT SO EXPECT AIRMASS TO BE A LITTLE MORE
UNSTABLE. WITH AN INCREASE IN LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY
EXPECT AN INCREASE THREAT OF AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS. BETTER
CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY AS UPPER TROUGH AMPLIFIES IN THE
EASTERN STATES. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE INCREASES AHEAD OF APPROACHING
SURFACE COLD FRONT. BETTER LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE EXPECTED ACROSS
THE REGION WITH LEE SIDE SURFACE TROUGH SETTING UP IN THE
MIDLANDS. SREF SUPPORTS HIGH CHANCE POPS.
&&
.LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY/...
AT THIS TIME...NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES WERE MADE TO THE LONG TERM
FORECAST. UPPER LEVEL TROUGH OVER THE EASTERN U.S. FROM WEDNESDAY
INTO THE WEEKEND AS WEAK COLD FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE OHIO
VALLEY. MODELS IN GENERAL KEEP FRONT JUST NORTHWEST OF THE AREA
THROUGH THE EXTENDED PERIOD...ALTHOUGH SURFACE TROUGH MAY SHIFT
EAST OF THE AREA THURSDAY WITH DRIER AIR ADVECTING INTO THE REGION NOTED.
HOWEVER...ENSEMBLES SUPPORT LOW CHANCE POPS THROUGH MOST OF THE
PERIOD. TEMPS CLOSE TO NORMAL.
&&
.AVIATION /18Z MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/...
WARM UNSTABLE AIRMASS REMAINS OVER THE STATE WITH WEAK SURFACE
TROUGH DRAPED ACROSS THE EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE STATE. GIVEN THAT
THE SHORT TERM MODELS ARE INDICATING THAT LEVEL OF FREE CONVECTION
IS AROUND 8000 FT...THINK THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT THIS AFTERNOON
WILL BE RATHER LIMITED. GENERALLY VFR CONDITIONS THROUGHOUT THE TAF
PERIOD WITH SOME MVFR FOG POSSIBLE AROUND 08Z-12Z TUESDAY MAINLY IN
LOW LYING AREAS AND NEAR RIVERS. AT THIS TIME...RISK OF STORMS WILL
AGAIN BE LOW FOR TUESDAY AFTERNOON DUE IN PART TO LEVEL OF FREE
CONVECTION NEAR 8000 FT.
EXTENDED OUTLOOK...SOME MVFR CONDITIONS POSSIBLE IN VCNTY OF
SCATTERED DIURNAL SHOWERS AND STORMS WEDNESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY.
&&
.CAE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
SC...HEAT ADVISORY FROM 1 PM TO 7 PM EDT TUESDAY FOR SCZ015-016-018-
020>022-025>031-035>038-041.
GA...HEAT ADVISORY FROM 1 PM TO 7 PM EDT TUESDAY FOR GAZ040-063>065-
077.
&&HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 337 PM EDT MON JUL 21 2008 GAZ040-063>065-077-SCZ015-016-018-020>022-025>031-035>038-041-221945- LINCOLN-MCDUFFIE-COLUMBIA-RICHMOND-BURKE-LANCASTER-CHESTERFIELD- MCCORMICK-NEWBERRY-FAIRFIELD-KERSHAW-EDGEFIELD-SALUDA-LEXINGTON- RICHLAND-LEE-AIKEN-SUMTER-BARNWELL-ORANGEBURG-CALHOUN-CLARENDON- BAMBERG- 337 PM EDT MON JUL 21 2008 ...HEAT ADVISORY IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM TO 7 PM EDT TUESDAY... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA AND CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT SCATTERED STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON. WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH AND PENNY SIZE HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THE STRONGER STORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. HEAT ADVISORY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
408 PM EDT MON JUL 21 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0318 PM TSTM WND DMG CAYCE 33.96N 81.06W
07/21/2008 LEXINGTON SC PUBLIC
PUBLIC REPORTS TREE DOWN AT 800 STATE ST. IN CAYCE.
&&
DAGPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
410 PM EDT MON JUL 21 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0340 PM HAIL PELION 33.77N 81.26W
07/21/2008 U0.50 INCH LEXINGTON SC PUBLIC
&&
AWPPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
412 PM EDT MON JUL 21 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0354 PM HAIL WILLISTON 33.40N 81.42W
07/21/2008 E0.88 INCH BARNWELL SC EMERGENCY MNGR
NICKEL SIZED HAIL REPORTED IN WILLISTON BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT.
&&
DAGPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
425 PM EDT MON JUL 21 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0300 PM TSTM WND DMG 3 W BELVEDERE 33.54N 82.00W
07/21/2008 AIKEN SC LAW ENFORCEMENT
LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTS TREES AND POWERLINES DOWN AT THE
INTERSECTION OF MARTINTOWN AND W. MARTINTOWN ROADS.
&&
DAGPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
429 PM EDT MON JUL 21 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0412 PM TSTM WND DMG WILLISTON 33.40N 81.42W
07/21/2008 BARNWELL SC TRAINED SPOTTER
SPOTTER REPORTS MULTIPLE TREES DOWN IN WILLISTON.
&&
DAGPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
457 PM EDT MON JUL 21 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0448 PM HAIL OLAR 33.17N 81.15W
07/21/2008 U0.88 INCH BAMBERG SC PUBLIC
&&
BCThe Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 107 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:29 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Sheriff Dispatch reported trees on a power line near Highway 56 and Beedy Branch Road.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Georgia in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, July 2008
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: 105219.