A cluster of thunderstorms moved through the southeast Midlands and produced some wind damage.
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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 CAE wrote it up.
A cluster of thunderstorms moved through the southeast Midlands and produced some wind damage.
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 12, 8:45 AM EST, 2 hours 51 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 945 AM EDT WED AUG 12 2009 .SYNOPSIS... A WEAKENING COLD FRONT OVER THE MIDLANDS STALL TODAY AND LINGER THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. INCREASING MOISTURE AND AN UPPER TROUGH WILL INTERACT WITH THE FRONT TO PRODUCE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH FRIDAY. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... UPDATE: SHORT WAVE OVER THE WESTERN CAROLINAS WITH INCREASING CONVECTION OVER THE WESTERN MIDLANDS AND CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA. AIRMASS IS ALREADY WEAKLY UNSTABLE UNDER CLOUDY SKIES. LIFTED INDEX ZERO TO MINUS 5 AND CAPES AROUND 1000. HAVE INCREASED POPS FOR THIS MORNING AND LOWERED MAX TEMPS SLIGHTLY. PREVIOUS DISCUSSION: ATMOSPHERE REMAINS A BIT UNSTABLE AS CONVECTIVE STORMS HAVE PERSISTED WITH NEW DEVELOPMENT ACROSS THE AREA EARLY THIS MORNING...ALTHOUGH ACTIVITY APPEARS TO BE WANING NOW. AN ACTIVE WEATHER DAY IS SETTING UP FOR THE FORECAST AREA WITH SEVERAL INGREDIENTS COMING TOGETHER TO SUPPORT WIDESPREAD CONVECTION...WITH POSSIBLE SEVERE POTENTIAL. FACTORS WHICH WILL BE CONDUCIVE FOR CONVECTION TODAY INCLUDE MODERATE INSTABILITY...AS FORECAST BY NUMERICAL GUIDANCE...A SURFACE FRONTAL BOUNDARY AND TROUGH IN THE VICINITY FOR CONVERGENCE...AND INCREASING UPPER SUPPORT THROUGH THE PRESENCE OF THE RIGHT ENTRANCE REGION OF THE UPPER JET. THE FACTORS WHICH COULD INHIBIT THE STRENGTH OF THE CONVECTION INCLUDE LACK OF LOW LEVEL WIND FIELD AND OVERALL SHEAR FOR THE ORGANIZATION OF STORMS...AND THE AMOUNT OF CLOUD COVER AROUND WHICH COULD PREVENT INSTABILITIES FROM REACHING THE POTENTIAL THE MODELS ARE SUGGESTING. PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES INCREASE TO OVER 2 INCHES BY THIS AFTERNOON...SO THERE IS ALSO THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAIN. THINK WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IS A GOOD BET WITH UPPER SUPPORT PROVIDING LIFT DURING PEAK HEATING AND WITH SUCH A MOIST ATMOSPHERE IN PLACE...AND THEREFORE HAVE INCREASED POPS TO 80 PERCENT ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA. SPC CONTINUES TO OUTLOOK THE AREA IN SLIGHT RISK. TEMPERATURES SHOULD BE QUITE A BIT COOLER TODAY GIVEN CLOUD COVER AND EXPECTED RAINFALL...AS MAX TEMPERATURES TOP OUT IN THE UPPER 80S TO LOWER 90S. && .SHORT TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/... WILL CONTINUE WITH LIKELY POPS ON THURSDAY GIVEN THE UPPER TROUGH OVER THE EASTERN CONUS AND WITH A SURFACE BOUNDARY OR TWO IN OUR VICINITY...AND ABUNDANT ATMOSPHERIC MOISTURE TO WORK WITH. REALLY NOT MUCH CHANGE IN THE ATMOSPHERE FROM WEDNESDAY TO THURSDAY OTHER THAN THE UPPER SUPPORT IS WEAKER ON THURSDAY AND THE DEEPER MOISTURE WILL BE MAINLY ACROSS THE EASTERN COUNTIES OF THE FORECAST AREA. TEMPERATURES WILL AGAIN BE AT OR BELOW NORMAL WITH ABUNDANT MOISTURE AND CLOUDS IMPACTING THE AMOUNT OF SOLAR INSOLATION. BROAD SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW ON THE EASTERN SIDE OF THE UPPER TROUGH SHOULD ENHANCE CONVECTION A BIT AND AN ISOLATED SEVERE STORM WILL BE POSSIBLE ON THURSDAY. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... ATMOSPHERIC MOISTURE REMAINS HIGH FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY WITH CONTINUED SOUTHERLY FLOW AROUND THE BERMUDA HIGH. THIS WILL BE SUPPORT AFTERNOON INSTABILITIES WHICH WILL ALLOW FOR SCATTERED CONVECTION INTO THE WEEKEND. THE 500H HEIGHTS WILL SLOWLY BE INCREASING THROUGH SUNDAY INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK AS THE UPPER RIDGE TRIES TO RE-ESTABLISH OVER THE SOUTHEASTERN STATES...AND THIS SHOULD LOWER PRECIPITATION CHANCES AS THE MID LEVELS BEGIN TO WARM AND DRY OUT A BIT. TEMPERATURES THROUGH THE EXTENDED ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW NORMAL THROUGH THE WEEKEND BUT THEN RETURN TO NORMAL OR ABOVE NORMAL BY NEXT WEEK AS THE RIDGE BUILDS. && .AVIATION /14Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS INCREASING OVER THE TAF SITES THIS MORNING. TAFS HAVE BEEN UPDATED TO INCLUDE CONVECTION THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON. GUIDANCE SHOWS SHORTWAVE MOVING INTO THE UPSTATE TODAY..LEE SIDE TROUGH REMAINS TODAY AS THE SHORT WAVE MOVES TOWARDS THE AREA. THIS WILL ALLOW FOR CONVECTION TO LINGER INTO THE AFTERNOON. PERIODS OF MVFR VISIBILITIES POSSIBLE IN SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND INTO THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. DURING THE EXTENDED PERIOD...BRIEF PERIODS OF MVFR MAY BE ENCOUNTERED WITH SCATTERED AFTERNOON CONVECTION INTO SUNDAY. && .CAE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SC...NONE. GA...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...10 NEAR TERM...10 AVIATION...10
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 404 AM EDT WED AUG 12 2009 GAZ040-063>065-077-SCZ015-016-018-020>022-025>031-035>038-041-130815- LINCOLN-MCDUFFIE-COLUMBIA-RICHMOND-BURKE-LANCASTER-CHESTERFIELD- MCCORMICK-NEWBERRY-FAIRFIELD-KERSHAW-EDGEFIELD-SALUDA-LEXINGTON- RICHLAND-LEE-AIKEN-SUMTER-BARNWELL-ORANGEBURG-CALHOUN-CLARENDON- BAMBERG- 404 AM EDT WED AUG 12 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA AND CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP IN A WARM AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS BY THIS AFTERNOON. SOME STORMS MAY BE STRONG TO SEVERE...WITH THE MAIN THREATS BEING DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 64 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:36 UTC.
3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
DOT reported trees down at Stone Pole in the Santee Lakes area.
Dispatch reported a couple of trees down on I-95 south at mile marker 109 and DOT reported a couple of trees down on Malin Drive in Summerton.
DOT reported a couple of trees down on Oak Grove Church road near hwy 260.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in South Carolina in 2009Every state in 2009This day in weather historyWarnings in South Carolina, August 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: 180363, 180362, 180359.