Isolated severe thunderstorms took down some trees and produced some large hail in Aiken and Clarendon counties.
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 thunderstorms took down some trees and produced some large hail in Aiken and Clarendon counties.
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 9, 11:11 AM EST, 19 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 1211 PM EDT WED MAY 9 2012 .SYNOPSIS... A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON... INCREASING OUR CHANCES OF SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. DRIER AIR AND HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD IN BEHIND THE FRONT...PROVIDING FAIR WEATHER THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... A LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE IN THE PROCESS OF MOVING THROUGH THE WESTERN PART OF THE FORECAST AREA EARLY THIS AFTERNOON AND MORE CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED AS AIRMASS BECOMES MARGINALLY UNSTABLE THIS AFTERNOON. SPC HAS CAE CWA IN A SLIGHT RISK AREA THIS AFTERNOON BUT WITH PREVAILING CLOUD COVER AND ONLY MARGINAL INSTABILITY...THINK LESS COVERAGE A BETTER POSSIBILITY. WILL KEEP THE HIGH CHANCES OF PRECIPITATION THIS AFTERNOON 80 TO 100 PERCENT. TEMPERATURES ARE RIGHT AS FORECAST. SO...NO CHANGES TO HIGHS. KEPT 100 PERCENT THROUGH 5 PM BUT LOWERED TO 60 PERCENT BY 6 PM WHEN NIGHT-TIME PERIOD BEGINS AS COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE THROUGH. OTHERWISE...A 20-30 PERCENT CHANCE WEST PART BEFORE MIDNIGHT AS ACTIVITY MAY LINGER IN A FEW SPOTS...40-50 PERCENT CHANCE EAST PART. THEN...WILL DROP MENTION AFTER MIDNIGHT WEST PART AND LOWER TO 20 PERCENT IN THE EAST UNTIL IT IS GONE AROUND 5 AM THURSDAY MORNING. SPC MAINTAINS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FOR OUR FA TODAY...THOUGH INSTABILITY APPEARS WILL BE LIMITED BY CLOUD COVER/PRECIP...AND ONLY WEAK UPPER ENERGY EXPECTED TODAY/EARLY TONIGHT AHEAD OF THE MAIN UPPER TROUGH DIGGING SOUTHEASTWARD WHICH WILL LAG BEHIND THE SYSTEM. BEST CHANCES FOR LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING APPEAR TO BE FROM OGB TO CHS WHERE THE WARM AIR ADVECTION IS THE STRONGEST. VERY LATE IN PERIOD TONIGHT NEAR DAYBREAK THURSDAY... DRIER CONDITIONS EXPECTED AS HIGH PRESSURE BEGINS TO BUILD OVER THE REGION. && .SHORT TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT/... FAIR WEATHER EXPECTED. HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD INTO THE EAST COAST WITH A DRY ATMOSPHERE IN PLACE. REFRESHING SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL TEMPS EXPECTED...ESPECIALLY ON THE MIN TEMP SIDE WITH SOME UPPER 40S POSSIBLE OVER PORTIONS OF THE FA FRI/SAT MORNINGS IF IDEAL RADIATIONAL COOLING CONDITIONS SET UP. && .LONG TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... ECMWF AND GFS REMAIN IN GOOD AGREEMENT. SURFACE HIGH WILL SHIFT EAST AS AN UPPER TROUGH SLOWLY APPROACHES FROM THE WEST. A SURFACE LOW MAY DEVELOP AND MOVE SLOWLY EAST ALONG THE GULF COAST/DEEP SOUTH. MOISTURE RETURN EXPECTED FOR OUR REGION...WITH INCREASING POPS. && .AVIATION /16Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... SURFACE FRONT CONTINUES TO APPROACH THE AREA FROM THE WEST THIS AFTERNOON. CAE 88D SHOWS A LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE WESTERN PART OF THE FORECAST AREA MOVING EAST AND SHOULD AFFECT TAF SITES. ALREADY AFFECTED AGS AND DNL WITH THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY BUT JUST BRIEFLY. NOT SURE IF OTHER TAF SITES WILL ACTUALLY GET ANY THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY. SO DECIDED TO LEAVE OUT FOR THE TIME BEING. OTHERWISE...MORE CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP DURING THE AFTERNOON. SPC HAS REGION IN SLIGHT RISK BUT DUE TO PREVAILING CLOUD COVER...LOWER ATMOSPHERE MAY ONLY BE MARGINALLY UNSTABLE. STILL BEST WARM AIR ADVECTION AND THEREFORE BEST CHANCES OF STRONG THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY APPEAR TO BE FROM OGB TO CHS AREA. VIL OF DAY PRETTY HIGH AT 58. LAPS CAPES RUNNING 1000-1400 J/KG AND LAPS LIS AROUND -4. THERE IS SOME INSTABILITY BUT AS SHOWERS MOVE IN AND CAUSE SOME RAIN...THE LOWER ATMOSPHERE MAY BECOME MORE STABLE. SO WILL JUST HAVE TO WATCH DEVELOPMENT. AS FAR AS TAFS GO...MAINLY VFR BUT BRIEF IFR-MVFR CONDITIONS ARE POSSIBLE IN HEAVIER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. STILL LIKE THE TIMING OFF MORE NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE LATE AFTERNOON HOURS. ONCE THE FRONT PUSHES THROUGH LATE TONIGHT...RAIN WILL END AND SKIES WILL BEGIN TO CLEAR OUT. AT THIS TIME DO NOT EXPECT MUCH IN THE WAY OF FOG FOR THURSDAY MORNING DUE TO THE WINDS REMAINING UP AND DRIER AIR PUSHING IN. EXTENDED AVIATION OUTLOOK...THE SLOW MOVING FRONT WILL MOVE OFF THE COAST EARLY THURSDAY. DO NOT EXPECT ANY SIGNIFICANT AVIATION ISSUES IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD AT THIS TIME. && .CAE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SC...NONE. GA...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...07 NEAR TERM...07 SHORT TERM...99 LONG TERM...99 AVIATION...07
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 506 AM EDT WED MAY 9 2012 GAZ040-063>065-077-SCZ015-016-018-020>022-025>031-035>038-041-100915- LINCOLN-MCDUFFIE-COLUMBIA-RICHMOND-BURKE-LANCASTER-CHESTERFIELD- MCCORMICK-NEWBERRY-FAIRFIELD-KERSHAW-EDGEFIELD-SALUDA-LEXINGTON- RICHLAND-LEE-AIKEN-SUMTER-BARNWELL-ORANGEBURG-CALHOUN-CLARENDON- BAMBERG- 506 AM EDT WED MAY 9 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA AND CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TODAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED TODAY.
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:28 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Emergency manager reported several trees down in the Nicholson Village area east of Aiken on Main Street. A tin roof was also taken off a building and underpinning of some mobile homes was damaged. One tree fell on a truck crushing it.
Public reported trees down on Williamson Brunson Road.
Public reported quarter size hail on Williamson Brunson Road.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in South Carolina in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in South Carolina, May 2012
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: 369853, 369854, 369855.