A stationary frontal boundary in combination with a moderately unstable air mass, resulted in scattered thunderstorm development across southeast Georgia.
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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 CHS wrote it up.
A stationary frontal boundary in combination with a moderately unstable air mass, resulted in scattered thunderstorm development across southeast Georgia.
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 Charleston, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 26, 7:28 PM EST, 1 hour 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC 828 PM EDT SAT SEP 26 2009 .SYNOPSIS... A WARM FRONT WILL LIFT NORTH OF THE AREA THIS EVENING. A COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP THROUGH FROM THE W ON SUNDAY. A SECONDARY FRONT WILL DROP THROUGH MON NIGHT... FOLLOWED BY DRY HIGH PRES AND BELOW NORMAL TEMPERATURES THROUGH LATE WEEK. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM SUNDAY MORNING/... ISSUED A QUICK UPDATE TO INCREASE POPS TO 100 PERCENT ACROSS THE FAR INTERIOR AS THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO APPROACH FROM THE WEST. ALSO RAISED POPS A BIT ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE FORECAST AREA PER LATEST SHORT TERM MODEL TRENDS. ANOTHER UPDATE WILL BE ISSUED LATER THIS EVENING TO ADDRESS OTHER ELEMENTS. WE ARE CAREFULLY WATCHING CONVECTIVE TRENDS ACROSS CENTRAL GEORGIA ATTM. SEVERAL BANDS OF SHOWERS AND TSTMS CONTINUE TO ORGANIZE EAST OF THE ATLANTA METRO AREA SOUTHWEST TO NEAR COLUMBUS. 26/22Z SURFACE OBSERVATIONS AND MSAS STREAMLINE ANALYSIS SUGGEST THE WARM FRONT HAS JUST PUSHED THROUGH THE CHARLESTON AIRPORT AND WAS LOCATED ROUGHLY ALONG A MCCLELLANVILLE-WALTERBORO-WAYNESBORO- SPARTA LINE. THE WARM FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE INTO THE MIDLANDS OVERNIGHT AS LOW PRESSURE MOVES TOWARDS THE WESTERN PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA. ALTHOUGH INSTABILITY WILL NOT BE ALL THAT SIGNIFICANT IN THE WARM SECTOR /RUC FORECAST SOUNDING SHOWING AS MUCH AS 1000 J/KG WITH ABOUT 25-35 MB OF CIN/ 0-6KM SHEAR VALUES ARE FORECAST TO INCREASE TO AS HIGH AS 35-40 KT OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS AS THE LOW-LEVEL JET OVER CENTRAL AND WESTERN GEORGIA PROPAGATES EAST TO THE COAST. THIS WILL BE SUFFICIENT ENOUGH TO SUPPORT SEVERAL CLUSTERS OF TSTMS DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS WITH ISOLATED STRONG TO SEVERE TSTMS POSSIBLE. THE MAIN HAZARDS LOOK TO BE STRONG GUSTY WINDS WHERE BOWING LINE SEGMENTS OCCUR WITH PERHAPS AN ISOLATED TORNADO IN THE VICINITY OF THE WARM FRONT. WILL NOT MAKE ANY SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO THE CURRENT POP DISTRIBUTION FOR THE OVERNIGHT PERIOD WITH CHANCE POPS AT THE COAST AND HIGH END LIKELY TO LOW END CATEGORICAL POPS ACROSS THE INTERIOR. WILL CONSIDER UPDATING THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK TO ADDRESS THE POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED STRONG TO SEVERE TSTMS OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM SUNDAY MORNING THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT/... WITH THE WMFNT WELL N OF THE REGION IN THE MORNING...ITS TRAILING CDFNT WILL BE OVER OR JUST REACHING THE COAST SHORTLY AFTER DAYBREAK. ONGOING CONVECTION JUST AHEAD OF AND ALONG THE FRONT WILL PUSH THROUGH THE AREA IN THE MORNING...WITH THE ENTIRE FRONT AND ITS ASSOCIATED PRECIPITATION OFF THE COAST BY LATE MORNING. SKIES LOOK TO QUICKLY CLEAR OUT THROUGH THE AFTERNOON HOURS FROM W TO E. WILL KEEP LIKELY POPS GOING FOR THE MORNING HOURS...DROPPING OFF GOING INTO THE AFTERNOON AS SUBSIDENCE BEHIND THE COLD FRONT DEVELOPS. NOT MUCH CAA IS EXPECTED WITH THIS FRONT SO TEMPS LOOK TO WARM FAIRLY EFFECTIVELY ONCE SKIES CLEAR OUT...WITH MAX TEMPS EXPECTED IN THE UPR 80S. MOSTLY CLEAR CONDITIONS CAN BE EXPECTED FOR SUN NIGHT. A SECONDARY DRY UPPER LEVEL TROUGH AXIS WILL PUSH THROUGH...FURTHER ENHANCING SUBSIDENCE WITH CLEAR SKIES. MIN TEMPS WILL DROP TO THE UPR 60S WELL AWAY FROM THE COAST WHILE LOWS IN THE UPR 60S TO ARND 70 CAN BE EXPECTED CLOSER TO THE SHORES. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... A MORE FALL-LIKE PATTERN IS IN STORE FOR THIS PERIOD. MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH OVERALL PATTERN...SHOWING A DEEP UPPER LOW/TROF OVER THE EASTERN 1/3 OF THE U.S. THROUGH ABOUT THURSDAY. BY FRIDAY AND SATURDAY...THE UPPER LOW LIFTS OUT AND IS REPLACED BY A SHALLOW UPPER RIDGE. MONDAY...THE REGION WILL BE IN SOUTHWEST FLOW AHEAD OF SEASONS FIRST DECENT COLD FRONT. EXPECT TEMPS TO WARM TO NEAR 90...AND WITH TDS IN THE UPPER 50S TO LOWER 60S...IT WILL NOT FEEL TOO BAD. BY MONDAY EVENING (00-06Z)...EXPECT THE COLD FRONT TO PUSH THROUGH. DEEP LAYER MOISTURE IS LACKING WITH THIS FRONT...AND THEREFORE EXPECT LITTLE TO NO PRECIP. TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY....A BEAUTIFUL STRETCH OF WEATHER IF YOU LIKE HIGHS IN THE UPPER 70S TO LOWER 80S WITH LOW HUMIDITY. LATEST GUIDANCE HAS COME IN A FEW DEGS COOLER FOR THE MINS...ESPECIALLY WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. HAVE GONE CLOSE TO THE LATEST MOS/MEX GUIDANCE...FOR BOTH HIGHS AND LOW...WHICH PUTS HIGHS...ALTHOUGH MUCH COOLER THAN RECENT TEMPS...NEAR NORMAL. MINS WILL BE NEAR NORMAL FOR MUCH OF THE PERIOD...EXCEPT DURING WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY WHERE THE COOLEST STRETCH IS EXPECTED WITH MINS IN THE LOWER 50S AWAY FROM THE COAST. && .AVIATION /01Z SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... VFR CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST AT BOTH CHS AND SAV TERMINALS EARLY TONIGHT. SOUTH SOUTHEAST WINDS AROUND 5 KNOTS WILL CONTINUE AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT UNTIL EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. MVFR CIGS/VSBYS ARE THEN POSSIBLE AS THE COLD FRONT PASSES THROUGH THE AREA. SHOWERS ARE ANTICIPATED DURING FROPA. CURRENTLY HAVE TEMPO MVFR CIGS/VSBYS ASSOCIATED WITH SHOWERS AT THE CHS TERMINAL BETWEEN 08 TO 11Z SUNDAY. HAVE TEMPO MVFR CIGS AT THE SAV TERMINAL BETWEEN 10Z TO 13Z SUNDAY. HAVE OPTED TO KEEP SAV TERMINAL DRY AT THIS TIME DUE TO LOW CONFIDENCE IN TIMING/OCCURRENCE OF SHOWERS OVER THE AREA. CONDITIONS WILL RAPIDLY IMPROVE LATE SUNDAY MORNING AT BOTH TERMINALS AS WEST WINDS AROUND 10 KNOTS DEVELOP. CLOUD COVER WILL IMPROVE WITH BKN SKIES BECOMING SCT SKIES BY 15Z. A FEW WIND GUSTS UP TO 18 KTS ARE EXPECTED AT THE CHS TERMINAL IN THE AFTERNOON WHILE THE PRESSURE GRADIENT REMAINS STRONG. EXTENDED AVIATION OUTLOOK...EXPECT VFR CONDITIONS TO PREVAIL MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. NOT EXPECTING ANY SIGNIFICANT PRECIP OR LOW CIGS WITH THE FRONTAL PASSAGE MONDAY EVENING. && .MARINE... AS A STALLED FRONT GAINS IMPETUS TO LIFT N THROUGH THE WATERS THIS EVENING...WINDS WILL GRADUALLY VEER AROUND TO SW AS WARM AIR ADVECTION KICKS IN. SPEEDS WILL INCREASE TO 10-15 KT BY LATE TNGT WITH SEAS IN THE 3-4 FT RANGE. A COLD FRONT APPROACHING FROM THE W WILL PUSH THROUGH THE WATERS BY LATE MORNING...ALLOWING WINDS TO BECOME MORE WLY WITH SPEEDS APPROACHING 15 KT IN POST-FRONTAL SURGING. HIGH PRES WILL FOLLOWING THE FRONT INTO THE WATERS TMRW THROUGH TMRW NIGHT... ALLOWING FOR SUBSIDING CONDITIONS ACRS THE WATERS WITH WIND SPEEDS DROPPING TO NEAR 10 KT AND SEAS INTO THE 2-3 FT RANGE. EXTENDED MARINE...NO HIGHLIGHTS EXPECTED THROUGH THE PERIOD. HOWEVER...SW WINDS COULD SURGE BRIEFLY TO MARGINAL SCA LEVELS AHEAD OF THE FRONT MONDAY AFTERNOON...AND THEN AGAIN WITH NW FLOW BEHIND THE FRONT MONDAY NIGHT. OTHERWISE...WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO BE 15 KTS OR LESS THE REST OF THE PERIOD WITH SEAS 3 FT OR LESS. && .CHS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GA...NONE. SC...NONE. MARINE...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC 742 PM EDT SAT SEP 26 2009 AMZ330-350-352-354-374-GAZ087-088-099>101-114>119-137>141-SCZ040- 042>045-047>051-271000- CHARLESTON HARBOR- WATERS FROM SOUTH SANTEE RIVER TO EDISTO BEACH SC OUT 20 NM- WATERS FROM EDISTO BEACH SC TO SAVANNAH GA OUT 20 NM- WATERS FROM SAVANNAH GA TO ALTAMAHA SOUND GA OUT 20 NM...INCLUDING GRAYS REEF NATIONAL MARINE SANCTUARY- WATERS FROM SAVANNAH GA TO ALTAMAHA SOUND GA EXTENDING FROM 20 TO 60 NM-JENKINS-SCREVEN-CANDLER-BULLOCH-EFFINGHAM-TATTNALL-EVANS- INLAND BRYAN-COASTAL BRYAN-INLAND CHATHAM-COASTAL CHATHAM-LONG- INLAND LIBERTY-COASTAL LIBERTY-INLAND MCINTOSH-COASTAL MCINTOSH- ALLENDALE-HAMPTON-INLAND COLLETON-DORCHESTER-BERKELEY-INLAND JASPER- BEAUFORT-COASTAL COLLETON-CHARLESTON-COASTAL JASPER- 742 PM EDT SAT SEP 26 2009 ...ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE TONIGHT... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR ATLANTIC COASTAL WATERS...SOUTHEAST GEORGIA AND SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE INTERIOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA AND SOUTHEAST GEORGIA LATER THIS EVENING AND MOVE EAST TOWARDS THE COAST LATE TONIGHT INTO EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. CONDITIONS APPEAR FAVORABLE FOR AN ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OR TWO TO DEVELOP DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS WITH DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH...CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL BEING THE PRIMARY HAZARDS. PEOPLE ACROSS SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA AND SOUTHEAST GEORGIA SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO ALL HAZARDS FOR THE LATEST SEVERE WEATHER INFORMATION. BECAUSE THERE IS A RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AFTER BEDTIME...PEOPLE ARE ENCOURAGED TO KEEP THEIR NOAA WEATHER RADIOS ALARM FEATURE IN THE ON POSITION IN CASE WARNINGS ARE ISSUED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
503 PM EDT SAT SEP 26 2009
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0445 PM HEAVY RAIN SANDFLY 31.99N 81.08W
09/26/2009 M1.65 INCH CHATHAM GA BROADCAST MEDIA
0445 PM HEAVY RAIN SAVANNAH 32.05N 81.08W
09/26/2009 M4.32 INCH CHATHAM GA BROADCAST MEDIA
RECORDED AT ASBURY MEMORIAL ON THE EAST SIDE OF TOWN.
0445 PM HEAVY RAIN 3 SSE GARDEN CITY 32.06N 81.16W
09/26/2009 M2.16 INCH CHATHAM GA BROADCAST MEDIA
MEASURED AT SAVANNAH TV STATION NEAR I-16 AT CHATHAM
PARKWAY.
0445 PM HEAVY RAIN 3 E HUNTER ARMY AIRFIEL 32.01N 81.09W
09/26/2009 M1.05 INCH CHATHAM GA BROADCAST MEDIA
&&
STSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC 837 PM EDT SAT SEP 26 2009 GAZ087-088-SCZ040-270145- JENKINS-SCREVEN-ALLENDALE- INCLUDING THE CITIES OF...MILLEN...SYLVANIA...ALLENDALE 837 PM EDT SAT SEP 26 2009 ...STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA... A LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUES TO MOVE EAST AT 30 MPH ACROSS PARTS OF EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA THIS EVENING. THE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO IMPACT MUCH OF THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA INCLUDING PARTS OF ALLENDALE...JENKINS AND SCREVEN COUNTIES THROUGH 11 PM. THIS INCLUDES THE COMMUNITIES OF MILLEN...PERKINS... HILLTONIA...SYLVANIA....MARTIN...ALLENDALE AND FAIRFAX. PEOPLE IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION SHOULD THREATENING WEATHER APPROACH OR IF A WARNING IS ISSUED FOR YOUR LOCATION. PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS... THIS IS A DEVELOPING SITUATION. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO ALL HAZARDS...TV OR YOUR LOCAL NEWS SOURCE FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. &&
The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 94 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:48 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Law Enforcement reported a tree and a power line down on West Old Savannah Road, 5 miles west-southwest of Millen, Georgia.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Georgia in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, September 2009
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: 191961.