Isolated severe storms moved through the eastern Midlands and produced some large hail.
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.
Isolated severe storms moved through the eastern Midlands and produced some large hail.
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 May 6, 1:48 PM EST, 3 hours 26 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 248 PM EDT WED MAY 6 2009 .SYNOPSIS... A QUASI STATIONARY FRONT LOCATED OVER NORTH CAROLINA WILL ALLOW A SERIES OF LOW PRESSURE SYSTEMS TO TRAVEL ALONG IT BRINGING CHANCES OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS INTO THE WEEKEND. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... CURRENT RADAR LOOP SHOWS A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM SOUTHWEST ALABAMA NORTHEAST THROUGH NORTHWEST GEORGIA. THIS LINE IS ASSOCIATED WITH A SHORT WAVE TROUGH WHICH IS DEPICTED ON THE WATER VAPOR LOOP TO BE OVER NORTHWEST GEORGIA. THIS SYSTEM WILL SWING THROUGH THE CAROLINAS BY THIS EVENING. TEMPERATURES HAVE BEEN WARMER ACROSS THE AREA THAN THIS TIME YESTERDAY. THE ATMOSPHERE HAS BECOME QUITE UNSTABLE WITH LIS IN THE -6 RANGE. SHEAR IS ALSO BECOMING MORE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ESPECIALLY OVER OUR NORTHERN COUNTIES. TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS AS WELL AS DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL. THE BEST CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE BETWEEN 6 AND 9 PM THIS EVENING. INCREASED POPS TO CATEGORICAL FOR OUR NORTHERN AREAS. USED A CONSENSUS FORECAST FOR LOW TEMPERATURES TONIGHT. && .SHORT TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/... THE SHORT WAVE TROUGH WILL BE FOLLOWED BY A SHORT WAVE RIDGE WHICH WILL DECREASE THE CHANCE OF STORMS LATER THURSDAY MORNING...HOWEVER ANOTHER SHORT WAVE WILL INCREASE THE CHANCE OF STORMS THURSDAY AFTERNOON...BUT THIS WAVE IS FORECAST TO BE WEAKER THAN THE ONE TONIGHT SO THE CHANCE RAIN WILL BE LESS. ONCE THIS SHORT WAVE IS PAST...A MORE PROLONGED DRY PERIOD WILL COMMENCE AS A STRONGER SHORT WAVE RIDGE MOVES ACROSS THE AREA THURSDAY NIGHT. MINOR CHANGES WERE MADE TO THE TEMPERATURE FORECAST. INCREASED POPS TO THE FRIDAY FORECAST. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... THE FRONT WILL REMAIN IN THE AREA THROUGH THE WEEKEND. SHORT WAVES TROUGHS WILL MOVE ALONG THE FRONT BRINGING CHANCES FOR MORE STORMS. THE STRONGEST SHORT WAVE WILL CROSS THE AREA SUNDAY AND MONDAY PUSHING THE FRONT THROUGH THE AREA MONDAY. THIS WILL DECREASE THE CHANCE OF RAIN BY TUESDAY. MODEL GUIDANCE IS IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH LOCATION AND TIMING OF THE WEATHER FEATURES. THE WEATHER PATTERN IS IS FORECAST TO CHANGE BY LATE NEXT WEEK AS A LONG WAVE RIDGE IS FORECAST TO BUILD ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST UNITED STATES. THIS WILL END THE RAIN CHANCES WITH A PERIOD OF DRY WEATHER BEGINNING NEXT WEDNESDAY. && .AVIATION /18Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL REMAIN NORTH OF THE REGION THE NEXT 24 HOURS. SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST SURFACE WINDS WILL BRING ADDITIONAL MOISTURE TO THE AREA. MODERATE TO STRONG INSTABILITY DEVELOPING THIS AFTERNOON. LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING FROM GEORGIA...EXPECTED IN CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA DURING THE EVENING. MVFR OR LOWER CEILINGS/VISIBILITY EXPECTED IN THE SHOWERS AT TIMES. DEEP LOW TO MID LEVEL MOISTURE OVERNIGHT EXPECT STRATUS TO DEVELOP AGAIN WITH MVFR AT BEST. CEILINGS RISING AROUND 15Z. EXTENDED AVIATION OUTLOOK...SCATTERED MVFR OR IFR CONDITIONS POSSIBLE THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY ASSOCIATED WITH THE FRONT STALLED NEAR THE REGION. && .CAE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SC...NONE. GA...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...12 NEAR TERM...12 SHORT TERM...12 LONG TERM...12 AVIATION...07
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 251 PM EDT WED MAY 6 2009 GAZ040-063>065-077-SCZ018-022-025>031-035>038-041-071900- LINCOLN-MCDUFFIE-COLUMBIA-RICHMOND-BURKE-MCCORMICK-KERSHAW-EDGEFIELD- SALUDA-LEXINGTON-RICHLAND-LEE-AIKEN-SUMTER-BARNWELL-ORANGEBURG- CALHOUN-CLARENDON-BAMBERG- 251 PM EDT WED MAY 6 2009 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA AND CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE STORMS THIS EVENING. DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE POSSIBLE IN SOME STORMS. ISOLATED TORNADOES ALSO POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY NORTH OF COLUMBIA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE STORMS THURSDAY AND THURSDAY EVENING. DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE POSSIBLE IN SOME STORMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED. SCZ015-016-020-021-071900- LANCASTER-CHESTERFIELD-NEWBERRY-FAIRFIELD- 251 PM EDT WED MAY 6 2009 ...TORNADO WATCH 256 IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM EDT THIS EVENING... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT PLEASE LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR GO TO WEATHER.GOV ON THE INTERNET FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE FOLLOWING HAZARDS. TORNADO WATCH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE STORMS THURSDAY AND THURSDAY EVENING. DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE POSSIBLE IN SOME STORMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 501 PM EDT WED MAY 6 2009 SCZ036-062200- ORANGEBURG- 501 PM EDT WED MAY 6 2009 ...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS AFFECTING ORANGEBURG COUNTY... AT 458 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF BOWMAN. THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 TO 25 MPH. PEA SIZE HAIL...AND WINDS AROUND 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. 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. LCV
The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 94 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:15 UTC.
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Target United Methodist Church reported penny size hail and estimated wind gusts to 50 mph.
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, May 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 157667.