A stationary front was located south of the forecast area and produced isolated severe storms and locally heavy rain.
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 stationary front was located south of the forecast area and produced isolated severe storms and locally heavy rain.
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 Aug 17, 2:03 PM EST, 3 hours 37 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 303 PM EDT SUN AUG 17 2008 .SYNOPSIS... STATIONARY FRONT WILL REMAIN SOUTH OF THE FORECAST AREA INTO THE WORK WEEK. THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY POSSIBLE THIS EVENING...BEFORE DRYING OUT MONDAY INTO TUESDAY. TUESDAY NIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY...ADDITIONAL MOISTURE FROM TROPICAL STORM FAY WILL BEGIN MOVING INTO THE REGION ALONG WITH INCREASING CLOUDS AND CHANCES OF THUNDERSTORMS. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... SURFACE BOUNDARY SET UP JUST TO THE EAST OF THE CWA WILL BE INTERACTING WITH SEA BREEZE THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. STRONG UPPER LEVEL WIND FIELDS SHOWN ON UPPER AIR PLOTS...ALONG WITH MID LEVEL SHORT WAVE IN THE CENTRAL APPALACHIANS...WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS THE REGION THIS EVENING. THESE WILL INTERACT WITH AMPLE SURFACE MOISTURE...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE CENTRAL AND EASTERN ZONES. SCATTERED ACTIVITY SHOULD DEVELOP DURING THE AFTERNOON...WITH THREAT FOR HEAVY PRECIP DUE TO THE TRAINING MOTIONS OF CELL ACTIVITY. && .SHORT TERM /MONDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT/... STRONGER UPPER LEVEL ENERGY FORECAST TO BE OVER AND JUST EAST OF THE FORECAST AREA BEGINNING MONDAY. THIS SHOULD LEAD TO A SLIGHTLY DRIER FORECAST FROM MONDAY INTO TUESDAY. BEST RAIN CHANCES SHOULD BE ACROSS THE EAST WHERE SEA BREEZE INTERACTIONS COULD CAUSE SOME AFTERNOON/EVENING THUNDERSTORMS. MOISTURE WILL BEGIN INCREASING ACROSS THE REGION AS SURFACE FRONT MOVES NORTHWARD...AND AS TROPICAL SYSTEM FAY BEGINS APPROACHING THE REGION. RAIN CHANCES WILL BE ON THE INCREASE BEGINNING TUESDAY NIGHT. TEMPS THROUGH THIS PERIOD SHOULD BE SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... WITH THE EXTENDED PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST...ALL DEPENDS ON THE FINAL TRACK/MOVEMENT OF TROPICAL SYSTEM FAY. CURRENT TRACK HAS CENTER OF CIRCULATION MOVING ACROSS CENTRAL PORTIONS OF SOUTH CAROLINA BY THURSDAY. RAIN CHANCES WILL INCREASE WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY...BUT WITH UNCERTAINTY IN THE FORECAST...WILL ONLY GO HIGH END OF THE CHANCE RANGE FOR NOW. ADJUSTMENTS TO POPS WILL CONTINUE TO BE MADE AS FAY GETS CLOSER TO THE REGION. WINDS WILL ALSO BE ON THE INCREASE WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO THURSDAY. FOR MORE INFO ON FAY...CONTINUE TO SEE TROPICAL PRODUCTS ISSUED BY THE HURRICANE CENTER FOR THE OFFICIAL FORECAST TRACKS. && .AVIATION /19Z SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... VFR CONDITIONS FOR MOST OF THE PERIOD WITH MVFR/IFR CONDITIONS POSSIBLE IN FOG OVERNIGHT. CUMULUS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP OVER THE TAF SITES WITH CB EXPECTED AFTER 20Z. MAIN CONCERN WILL POTENTIAL FOR FOG OVERNIGHT WITH MVFR CONDITIONS POSSIBLE AT CAE/CUB/DNL AND IFR AT AGS/OGB FROM 08Z TO 13/14Z. FOG WILL DISSIPATE BY 14Z WITH SKIES CLEARING THROUGH NOON AND THE POTENTIAL FOR CB AT THE END OF THE TAF PERIOD. EXTENDED PERIOD...MVFR CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY. ALL INTERESTS ACROSS THE REGION ARE URGED TO MONITOR THE TRACK AND MOVEMENT OF TROPICAL STORM FAY FOR POSSIBLE IMPACT. && .CAE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SC...NONE. GA...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 520 AM EDT SUN AUG 17 2008 GAZ040-063>065-077-SCZ015-016-018-020>022-025>031-035>038-041-180930- LINCOLN-MCDUFFIE-COLUMBIA-RICHMOND-BURKE-LANCASTER-CHESTERFIELD- MCCORMICK-NEWBERRY-FAIRFIELD-KERSHAW-EDGEFIELD-SALUDA-LEXINGTON- RICHLAND-LEE-AIKEN-SUMTER-BARNWELL-ORANGEBURG-CALHOUN-CLARENDON- BAMBERG- 520 AM EDT SUN AUG 17 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA AND CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED. AN ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY ALL INTERESTS ARE URGED TO MONITOR THE STATUS OF TROPICAL CYCLONE FAY...AS IT MAY AFFECT OUR REGION AROUND WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 618 PM EDT SUN AUG 17 2008 SCZ028-172315- RICHLAND- 618 PM EDT SUN AUG 17 2008 ...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS AFFECTING RICHLAND COUNTY... AT 612 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN PARTS OF RICHLAND COUNTY. THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF COLUMBIA AND THE WATEREE AREA OF LOWER RICHLAND COUNTY. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTAIN WIND GUSTS NEAR 45 MPH... FREQUENT LIGHTNING...AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS. PONDING OF WATER WILL OCCUR IN POOR-DRAINAGE AREAS. LISTEN FOR POSSIBLE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OR FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS. REPORT LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS OR FLOODING TO YOUR COUNTY SHERIFF...OR CALL THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA TOLL FREE AT 1 800 7 7 5 7 1 9 9.
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 22 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:38 UTC.
2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Public reported quarter size hail at apartment complex near the intersection of Farrow Road and Interstate 77.
NWS Employee reported nickel size hail near South Congaree.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in South Carolina in 2008Every state in 2008This day in weather historyWarnings in South Carolina, August 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: 118974, 118973.