The remnants of Tropical Storm Fay moved through the area and produced severe weather and flooding.
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.
The remnants of Tropical Storm Fay moved through the area and produced severe weather and flooding.
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 26, 6:34 AM EST, 2 hours 11 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 734 AM EDT TUE AUG 26 2008 .SYNOPSIS... REMNANTS OF TROPICAL DEPRESSION FAY WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE TOWARDS THE AREA TODAY...RESULTING IN MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES AND INCREASING CHANCES FOR RAIN THROUGH MIDWEEK. CONDITIONS IMPROVE BY THURSDAY AS THE REMNANTS OF FAY LIFT NORTH OF THE AREA. && .NEAR TERM /TODAY AND TONIGHT/... DEEP MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THE REMNANTS OF FAY WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE INTO THE AREA TODAY AND TONIGHT WHILE THE ACTUAL CIRCULATION REMAINS TO THE WEST. MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH THE MASS FIELDS AND THE MAIN DIFFERENCE IS IN TIMING AND THE MOISTURE FEED AHEAD OF THE SYSTEM. COMPARED TO THE 12Z MODEL RUN FROM YESTERDAY...THE GFS CONTINUES TO BE MORE PROGRESSIVE THAN THE NAM IN LIFTING THE SURFACE LOW NORTH OF OUR AREA...WHILE THE NAM KEEPS THE DEEPER MOISTURE OVER THE AREA LONGER. PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES WILL REMAIN OVER 2 INCHES THROUGH THIS PERIOD WHICH WILL ALLOW FOR HEAVY RAIN AT TIMES...ESPECIALLY IF THERE IS ANY TRAINING OF CELLS. THE GFS SHOWS 850H WINDS OF 20-30 KNOTS MOVING IN BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY WHICH WOULD PROVIDE BETTER MOISTURE INFLUX AND YIELD HIGHER PRECIPITATION TOTALS COMPARED TO THE NAM WHICH KEEPS THESE STRONGER WINDS AND PRECIP IN THE UPSTATE. FEEL THE BEST QPF WILL BE TO OUR NORTHWEST AIDED BY UPSLOPE FLOW...BUT WILL CONTINUE WITH HIGH POPS AS WE SHOULD CERTAINLY SEE MEASURABLE RAINFALL. INCREASED POPS FOR TODAY TO NEAR CATEGORICAL ESPECIALLY NORTHERN AND CENTRAL COUNTIES. WESTERN PORTIONS OF OUR AREA...INCLUDING MUCH OF NORTHERN AND CENTRAL GA...ARE NOW IN A SLIGHT RISK AREA FOR SEVERE WEATHER FOR TODAY AS PER SPC DISCUSSION. && .SHORT TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/... OTHERWISE...WILL CONTINUE TO ADVERTISE COOLER MAX TEMPS WEDNESDAY WITH CLOUDS AND PRECIPITATION EXPECTED. A GRADUAL WARMING TREND BY THURSDAY AS UPPER RIDGE SLOWLY REBUILDS OVER THE SE STATES. LEANING TOWARD THE MORE PROGRESSIVE GFS AND WILL BE OPTIMISTIC WITH IMPROVED SKY COVER...LOWER POPS AND WARMER TEMPERATURES BY THURSDAY. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... NOT MUCH CHANGE FROM PREVIOUS MODEL CYCLE TO THE EXTENDED FORECAST. FOR THE MOST PART LEANED TOWARDS THE GFS SOLUTION. IN GENERAL UPPER RIDGE ATTEMPTS TO SLOWLY REBUILD OVER THE SOUTHEAST. MUCH WILL ALSO DEPEND ON FUTURE TRACK OF T.S. GUSTAV NOW IN THE CARIBBEAN SEA. MOSTLY SMALL CHANCE POPS WITH AFTERNOON MAXES RANGING FROM THE MID 80S TO AROUND 90 DEGREES THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .AVIATION /12Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... MOISTURE WILL REMAIN PLENTIFUL ACROSS THE AREA AS THE REMNANTS OF TROPICAL STORM FAY APPROACHES FROM THE GULF COASTAL REGION. AIRMASS WILL REMAIN UNSTABLE THROUGH THE DAY...WITH NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE. STRONG DEEP LAYER SHEAR EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE WESTERN HALF OF THE CWA THROUGH THE DAY. AS WITH PREVIOUS FORECAST...LOW CEILINGS AND VISIBILITIES WILL BE COMMON THROUGH THE TAF PERIOD AT ALL SITES. LIFR THIS MORNING...WITH SLIGHT IMPROVEMENT TO IFR AND MVFR THIS AFTERNOON. IFR EXPECTED TO MOVE BACK IN TO THE REGION OVERNIGHT. EXTENDED PERIOD...WIDESPREAD IFR OR MVFR CONDITIONS MAY OCCUR WEDNESDAY BECAUSE OF THE HIGH MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THE REMNANTS OF TROPICAL STORM FAY. && .CAE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SC...NONE. GA...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 614 AM EDT TUE AUG 26 2008 GAZ040-063>065-077-SCZ015-016-018-020>022-025>031-035>038-041-271015- LINCOLN-MCDUFFIE-COLUMBIA-RICHMOND-BURKE-LANCASTER-CHESTERFIELD- MCCORMICK-NEWBERRY-FAIRFIELD-KERSHAW-EDGEFIELD-SALUDA-LEXINGTON- RICHLAND-LEE-AIKEN-SUMTER-BARNWELL-ORANGEBURG-CALHOUN-CLARENDON- BAMBERG- 614 AM EDT TUE AUG 26 2008 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA AND CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER TODAY WEST OF A LANCASTER... TO COLUMBIA...TO BARNWELL LINE. THE REMAINS OF TROPICAL DEPRESSION FAY WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTHEASTWARD TOWARDS THE REGION TODAY. SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL PERSIST IN ADVANCE OF THE SYSTEM. THE STRONGER STORMS MAY HAVE TO POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE AN ISOLATED TORNADO THROUGH THE DAY IN AND AROUND THE OUTLOOKED AREA. THE OTHER THREAT WITH THE SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE THE HEAVY RAIN POTENTIAL. THIS MAY CAUSE SOME FLOODING IN POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED AT SOME POINT TODAY OR THIS EVENING.
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 82 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:44 UTC.
7 flash flood, 5 thunderstorm wind, 1 funnel cloud, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Sheriff reported several roads closed from flooding of streams. Duchwood road near Taxahaw was closed as well as roads in the Forth Acre Rock area and roads crossing Flat Rock Creek.
Sheriff reported SC763 and other secondary roads were temporarily closed for flooding from streams including Beaver Creek.
Longtown COOP reported flooding of secondary roads from streams, including Wateree Creek, temporarily closing them.
Sheriff reported Blue Jay Road at SC903 closed due to flooding from Flat Creek.
Sheriff reported a funnel cloud over Heath Springs.
DOT and public reported flooding of secondary roads such as sc413 from Neds Creek and SC588 from Buffalo Creek. Street flooding also occurred in Kershaw.
Storm survey found trees down along a path about 60 yards wide on Mcconnel road, SC20-99, hwy 215, and Cool Branch road.
Sheriff reported a couple of trees down in Ridge Spring on Pecan Grove road and power outages in Saluday.
Sheriff reported power outages in Saluda and up to the west end of Lake Murray.
Emergency Manager reported several trees down from Salley to Wagener.
Sheriff reported power outages in Newberry with street flooding and some trees down in Prosperity.
Sheriff and public reported some secondary roads flooded from overflowing streams, temporarily closing some of them.
Sheriff departments widespread flooding along secondary roads where streams overflowed. The fire department reported the highway 34 bridge closed from flooding at the county line. Columbia police reported several roads under 2 to 3 feet of water. Lexington reported a couple of secondary road closures from flooding. Newberry reported four roads closed due to flooding from Scotts Creek.
DOT reported several trees down in the northeast portion of the county from Lexington to the St. Andrews area.
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 historyThe tornado archive for South Carolina, 2008Warnings 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: 120520, 120522, 120526, 120560, 120528, 120537, 120667, 120538, 120539, 120542, 120541, 120548, 120555, 120544.