Name: Excessive Heat in South Carolina, August 3, 2011
Start: 2011-08-03T14:15
End: 2011-08-03T15:15
Location: South Carolina

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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.

What happened

The episode as NWS CHS wrote it up.

A strong mid and upper level ridge produced large thickness values over the southeast. These thickness values supported afternoon high temperatures between 100 to 103 degrees inland and mid 90s along the coast. These temperatures in combination with low to mid 70s dewpoints pooling along an afternoon seabreeze, produced dangerous heat indices over portions of southeast South Carolina.

What forecasters said that day

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 Aug 3, 11:48 AM EST, 2 hours 27 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 3, 11:48 AM EST, 2 hours 27 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 3, 3:25 AM EST, 10 hours 50 minutes before

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Event by event

1 excessive heat. Local standard time, as filed.

Excessive Heat, Charleston

When: August 3, 2:15 PM EST to 3:15 PM EST
Where: Charleston forecast zone
Reported by: AWOS

A heat index of 116 F was observed at East Cooper Airport.

What these are

Excessive Heat: Heat at or above the local excessive heat warning criteria, or heat that caused deaths.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in South Carolina in 2011 Every state in 2011 This day in weather history Warnings in South Carolina, August 2011

Sources

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: 342640.