The Midlands and CSRA were between an approaching cold front and the remnants of Tropical Storm Julia.
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.
The Midlands and CSRA were between an approaching cold front and the remnants of Tropical Storm Julia.
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 Sep 19, 5:32 PM EST, 1 hour 5 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Columbia SC 632 PM EDT MON SEP 19 2016 .SYNOPSIS... A weak cold front will merge with a trough off the southeast coast tonight. This trough will linger near the coast through much of the week and a chance of showers and thunderstorms will continue. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM TUESDAY MORNING/... As of early this evening, water vapor imagery depicts the axis of an upper level trough approaching from the west. Meanwhile, the low level circulation associated with the remnants of former tropical cyclone Julia lingers off the Cape Fear coast and a surface front/trough extending out along the back side of the low is making southward progress through the northern and eastern Midlands. As the night progresses, the upper trough will develop into a cut-off low and linger over the region. At the same time, the surface trough will shift south of the area, causing the low level flow to shift north-northeasterly. The latest high resolution mesoscale models have scaled back on the coverage of precipitation through this evening, so have adjusted the forecast accordingly to indicate scattered showers and a few thunderstorms across the northern, central and eastern Midlands, with only isolated showers and thunderstorms elsewhere. Given moderate instability and the possibility of mid level dry air entrainment, an isolated strong thunderstorm with gusty winds is possible but overall the severe weather threat is low. Will expect most of the activity to dissipate by late tonight. Behind the surface trough, the N-NE low-level flow could provide stratus development late tonight. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM TUESDAY MORNING THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... An inverted surface trough will continue near the coast through Wednesday. The models show an h5 cut-off low in the region positioned with a spread from the Central Savannah River Area to central Coastal Plain. The main forecast concern is a possibility of heavy rain because of slow movement in the stagnant pattern with difluent heights northeast of the h5 low, and tropical moisture wrapping around the offshore low which was once Tropical Storm Julia. The h85 jet is forecast to mainly wrap into North Carolina with weak advection into the forecast area. However, the ECMWF has indicated a stronger jet and convergence in the forecast area compared to the NAM and GFS, but all these models have QPF less than 2 inches through Wednesday. Most SREF members have rainfall less than 1 inch at Columbia through Wednesday. The threat is too low for a flood watch at this time. Despite the cold mid-level temperatures associated with the upper low, instability will likely remain weak because of cloudiness. However, the NAM does depict surface-based LI values -5 to -6 Tuesday which may occur if significant breaks in the cloudiness occurs. Therefore, strong wind and hail are not out of the question. The pattern supports the lower maximum temperature guidance. The MOS was consistent with the minimum temperature. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY/... The GFS and ECMWF show the h5 low remaining over the area with a surface inverted trough near the coast through Thursday or Friday. The models display these features much weaker or dissipated by Saturday. However, a cold front is shown moving into the area Sunday or Sunday night. The GFS and ECMWF MOS have pops 30 to 40 percent through Friday, and 20 to 30 percent Saturday and Sunday. The MOS indicates near-normal high temperatures through Thursday with above normal values ahead of the cold front during the weekend. && .AVIATION /22Z MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... Scattered ongoing convection mainly over the eastern and southern portions of the forecast area late this afternoon. Upper level trough will continue to slowly approach from the west and cut off over the region tonight. Weak frontal boundary/surface trough will swing through our FA from the north tonight. Given latest radar trends, will back off on mention of convection in the TAFs over the next several hours, except for a mention of VCSH at OGB. Will amend for convection into tonight if confidence increases. Models indicating a light NE wind tonight behind the trough, and potential for stratus to move into the region from the NE late tonight. A later arrival of stratus plus dry air aloft could promote fog at fog prone AGS. Will expect a slow return to VFR by midday Tuesday, with diurnal showers/possible thunderstorms mainly after 18Z. EXTENDED AVIATION OUTLOOK...Chance of showers and possible thunderstorms, and associated restrictions. Late night/early morning stratus/possible fog. && .CAE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GA...None. SC...None. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 158 PM EDT MON SEP 19 2016 GAZ040-063>065-077-SCZ015-016-018-020>022-025>031-035>038-041-200900- LINCOLN-MCDUFFIE-COLUMBIA-RICHMOND-BURKE-LANCASTER-CHESTERFIELD- MCCORMICK-NEWBERRY-FAIRFIELD-KERSHAW-EDGEFIELD-SALUDA-LEXINGTON- RICHLAND-LEE-AIKEN-SUMTER-BARNWELL-ORANGEBURG-CALHOUN-CLARENDON- BAMBERG- 158 PM EDT MON SEP 19 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE MIDLANDS OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA OF GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM OR TWO MAY REACH SEVERE LIMITS AND PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS LATE TODAY AND EARLY TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 58 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:37 UTC.
8 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
County Dispatch reported trees and power lines down in the city of Newberry.
Reported trees down along South Lake Drive and also along Old Chapin Road.
Lexington Police Department reported a tree down blocking travel near the intersection of Bellewood Drive and Harmon Street.
Highway Patrol reported a tree down in the roadway along Hardscrabble Road near Sloan Road.
Highway patrol reported a tree down along the 400 block of Longtown Road near Jilda Drive.
Skywarn spotter reported a tree down along Hickory Hills Trail near Pontiac.
Reported tree down along Hwy. 1 near the Richland County line.
Highway Patrol reports a tree in the roadway on Steven Campbell Road near the intersection with Highway 1.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in South Carolina in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in South Carolina, September 2016
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: 660980, 660979, 660971, 660985, 660984, 660983, 660977, 660974.