A nearly stationary frontal boundary remained just west of the area producing afternoon and evening thunderstorms.
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 nearly stationary frontal boundary remained just west of the area producing afternoon and evening thunderstorms.
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 5, 2:00 PM EST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 300 PM EDT SAT JUL 5 2008 .SYNOPSIS... HIGH PRESSURE ANCHORED OFFSHORE WILL PUMP MOISTURE ACROSS THE REGION OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. PERIODS OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. SEASONABLY WARM CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY JUST WEST OF THE AREA AND MOIST SW FLOW HELPING TO PRODUCE SCATTERED SHRA/TSRA ACROSS THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON. EXPECT ACTIVITY TO CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING HOURS THEN GRADUALLY DIMINISH OVERNIGHT. TIME SECTION SHOWING LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL BE INCREASING ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THE PERIOD. GUIDANCE AND LOCAL NUMBERS VERY CLOSE...BUT WILL STAY ON THE LOWER SIDE OF THE GUIDANCE FOR TONIGHT WITH SHRA/TSRA HELPING TO COOL THINGS DOWN A LITTLE. && .SHORT TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT/... MID/UPPER LEVEL TROUGH ACROSS THE AREA SUN WILL GRADUALLY WEAKEN AND LIFT NWD THROUGH MON NIGHT. HOWEVER...MOIST S/SW FLOW WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA AND EXPECT DECENT CHANCES FOR SHRA/TSRA...ESPECIALLY DURING AFTERNOON/EVENING HOURS. GUIDANCE AND LOCAL NUMBERS FOR BOTH POPS/TEMPS VERY SIMILAR AND WILL STAY CLOSE TO GUIDANCE THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .LONG TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... LITTLE CHANGE IN THE EXTENDED FORECAST. BERMUDA HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE REMAINS ANCHORED OFF THE SE COAST. AT THE SURFACE...WEAK PRESSURE FIELD ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH MID WEEK...WITH A FRONTAL BOUNDARY TRYING TO APPROACH FROM THE N BY THU NIGHT/FRI. BY SAT...HARD TO TELL HOW FAR BOUNDARY WILL PROGRESS SWD AND MAY STALL OVER THE AREA. LOOKS TO BE ENOUGH MOISTURE ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH THE PERIOD FOR CHANCE POPS OF AFTERNOON/EVENING SHRA. TEMPERATURES ARE EXPECTED TO BE CLOSE TO NORMAL THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .AVIATION /19Z SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... HEATING AND CONVERGENCE ASSOCIATED WITH THE SURFACE TROUGH WILL HELP CAUSE THUNDERSTORMS. THE CONVERGENCE APPEARS WEAK AND EXPECT COVERAGE WILL BE SCATTERED. THE THUNDERSTORM CHANCE APPEARS TOO LOW TO FORECAST EXPLICITLY AT THIS TIME. COVERAGE SHOULD DIMINISH TONIGHT BECAUSE OF THE LOSS OF HEATING. THE CHANCE OF SIGNIFICANT FOG APPEARS LOW TONIGHT BECAUSE OF DEEP MOISTURE AND CONTINUED INSTABILITY. THIS IS SUPPORTED BY THE NAM AND GFS MOS. NO SIGNIFICANT IMPACTS EXPECTED DURING THE EXTENDED PERIOD. && .CAE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SC...NONE. GA...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...77 NEAR TERM...77 SHORT TERM...77 LONG TERM...77 AVIATION...07
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 426 AM EDT SAT JUL 5 2008 GAZ040-063>065-077-SCZ015-016-018-020>022-025>031-035>038-041-061000- LINCOLN-MCDUFFIE-COLUMBIA-RICHMOND-BURKE-LANCASTER-CHESTERFIELD- MCCORMICK-NEWBERRY-FAIRFIELD-KERSHAW-EDGEFIELD-SALUDA-LEXINGTON- RICHLAND-LEE-AIKEN-SUMTER-BARNWELL-ORANGEBURG-CALHOUN-CLARENDON- BAMBERG- 426 AM EDT SAT JUL 5 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA AND CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. THE PRIMARY THREAT WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AGAIN SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE PRIMARY THREAT WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
259 PM EDT SAT JUL 05 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0232 PM TSTM WND DMG 1 E CHERAW 34.70N 79.88W
07/05/2008 CHESTERFIELD SC CO-OP OBSERVER
OBSERVER REPORTS TREES AND LARGE LIMBS DOWN AS WELL AS
SOME SMALL HAIL.
&&
FPWPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
343 PM EDT SAT JUL 05 2008
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0323 PM TSTM WND DMG 1 SSE SWANSEA 33.73N 81.10W
07/05/2008 LEXINGTON SC PUBLIC
PUBLIC REPORT OF LARGE LIMBS DOWN IN SOUTH PART OF
SWANSEA
&&
LINTONThe Columbia radar (KCAE), 121 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:29 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Public reported large limbs down and the power out in the area.
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: 100074.