An isolated thunderstorm developed along the southeast Georgia coast in the late afternoon hours. The storm moved to the northeast and produced large hail.
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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 CHS wrote it up.
An isolated thunderstorm developed along the southeast Georgia coast in the late afternoon hours. The storm moved to the northeast and produced 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 Charleston, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 30, 3:10 PM EST, 1 hour 31 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Charleston SC 410 PM EDT Tue May 30 2017 .SYNOPSIS... Weak high pressure will persist over the western Atlantic while a surface trough resides inland through the weekend. A cold front may impact the area early next week. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM WEDNESDAY MORNING/... Until Sunset: Radar indicates the bulk of convection has stayed just south of our area. CAMs continue to hint at the convective potential along the GA coast until sunset. However, these same models have been off on the timing and location of the ongoing convection. The cap has generally held and the sea breeze remains within a few miles of the beaches. We backed off POPs to account for this. However, MLCAPEs are easily exceeding 1,000 J/kg with DCAPEs around 1,000 J/kg. If storms due manage to develop before sunset, some could become strong. There remains a risk for damaging winds with some hail, but this risk decreases as sunset approaches. Further north into SC, slight chance POPs remain, but this may be overdone given the current trends. Tonight: Southwesterly flow will persist as the region sits between Atlantic high pressure and a large upper low situated north of the Great Lakes. POPs will decrease across the land areas this evening and overnight. However, new convection is expected to develop offshore, near the Gulf Stream. With a warm air mass in place and mostly cloudy skies, temperatures will only fall into the low 70s for most areas. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM WEDNESDAY MORNING THROUGH FRIDAY/... Wednesday: Models indicate that a weak mid level short wave will move through the forecast area during the morning hours and then off the SC coast early in the afternoon. There may be isolated convective rains during the morning hours as moisture remains rather deep across the entire region. During the afternoon, there is some drying across SC zones and weak NVA in the wake of the short wave. Diurnal convection during the afternoon and early evening would likely need to be driven thermodynamically with the sea breeze a factor in low level moisture convergence. With cloudiness around in the morning, it will tend to diminish the amount of instability later in the afternoon and the potential for severe convection appears low. Our higher POPs were skewed across inland and southern zones. Highs should average in the upper 80s. Thursday: Zonal flow aloft will reside, while a weak surface trough drifts southeast over the region. Drier low to mid levels along with a lack of upper forcing should result in a mainly dry day along and to the north of I-16 in GA but cannot rule out isolated convection further north along the sea breeze in SC. We maintained only slight diurnal POPs most areas, low end chance POPs along the Altamaha. A few inland areas may reach 90 with upper 80s along the coastal corridor. Friday: Whatever is left of the weak surface front/trough will tend to dissipate as elevated 1000-850 MB moisture advects northward into southeast GA and eventually southern SC by late in the day. Isolated to scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop during the afternoon and evening hours. Storm motions should be weak with only modest instability during peak heating. POPs mainly in the low- end chance across the area with highs once again upper 80s to near 90. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/... A more pronounced upper trough pattern over the weekend will bring increased moisture and better forcing for convection. It's possible a cold front will move into the area Monday or Tuesday. We continue to show higher pops during the long term period. && .AVIATION /20Z TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... KCHS: VFR through 18Z Wednesday. KSAV: VFR is expected through 18Z Wednesday. Radar indicates thunderstorms to the south of the airport and more development is possible into this evening. To account for this potential, we kept VCTS in the TAF until 00Z. Extended Aviation Outlook: Mainly VFR. Brief flight restrictions possible in isolated afternoon/evening showers and tstms. && .MARINE... Tonight: A very weak pressure gradient will keep southwest winds generally under 10 kt with seas 1-2 feet. Some thunderstorms are possible, especially closer to the Gulf Stream. A weak pressure pattern will persist over the marine area Wednesday through Friday. The flow will diurnally vary from offshore in the morning to onshore in the afternoons both Wednesday and Thursday and trend more onshore on Friday. Speeds will be less than 15 KT with seas averaging near 2 ft. As subtropical high pressure offshore strengthens over the weekend, slightly stronger wind fields will result during the afternoons on Saturday and Sunday. No highlights are expected. Isolated tstms are possible since steering flow is from the west, Wednesday and then again on Friday. && .EQUIPMENT... Afternoon temperature readings from KSAV occasionally appear to be erroneously running a couple of degrees warmer than surrounding sites. Technicians have not indicated when they will resolve the issue. As such, high temperature observations from the site should be used with caution. && .CHS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GA...None. SC...None. MARINE...None. && NEAR TERM... SHORT TERM... LONG TERM...JRL AVIATION... MARINE... EQUIPMENT...
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Charleston SC 336 PM EDT Tue May 30 2017 AMZ330-350-352-354-374-GAZ087-088-099>101-114>119-137>141-SCZ040- 042>045-047>052-311945- Charleston Harbor- Waters from South Santee River to Edisto Beach SC out 20 nm- Waters from Edisto Beach SC to Savannah GA out 20 nm- Waters from Savannah GA to Altamaha Sound GA out 20 nm...including Grays Reef National Marine Sanctuary- Waters from Savannah GA to Altamaha Sound GA extending from 20 to 60 nm-Jenkins-Screven-Candler-Bulloch-Effingham-Tattnall-Evans- Inland Bryan-Coastal Bryan-Inland Chatham-Coastal Chatham-Long- Inland Liberty-Coastal Liberty-Inland McIntosh-Coastal McIntosh- Allendale-Hampton-Inland Colleton-Dorchester-Inland Berkeley- Inland Jasper-Beaufort-Coastal Colleton-Charleston-Coastal Jasper- Tidal Berkeley- 336 PM EDT Tue May 30 2017 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for Atlantic coastal waters, southeast Georgia and southeast South Carolina. .DAY ONE...This Afternoon and Tonight. The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Wednesday through Monday. The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... Spotter assistance is not anticipated at this time.
Special Weather Statement
National Weather Service Charleston SC
509 PM EDT TUE MAY 30 2017
GAZ140-141-302200-
Inland McIntosh-Coastal McIntosh-
509 PM EDT TUE MAY 30 2017
...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL IMPACT PORTIONS OF MCINTOSH COUNTY...
At 509 PM EDT, National Weather Service doppler radar indicated
strong thunderstorms along a line extending from near Mount Pleasant
to near Darien, and moving northeast at 15 mph.
HAZARD...strong winds 45 to 55 mph and up to penny sized hail.
IMPACT...Expect minor damage to tree limbs and blowing around of
light, unsecured objects. Minor hail damage to plants,
trees and crops is possible. Damage to windshields is
unlikely.
Some locations in the path of these storms include...
Darien, Townsend, Crescent, Carnigan, Eulonia, Pine Harbor,
Blackbeard Island and Valona.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
Torrential rainfall is also occurring with these storms and may lead
to flooding of low lying and poor drainage areas. Do not drive your
vehicle through flooded roadways.
Report damage directly to the Charleston National Weather Service at
1-888-383-2024 when it is safe to do so. You can also email your
report to nws.charlestonsc@noaa.gov.
&&
LAT...LON 3135 8152 3140 8158 3143 8161 3144 8161
3145 8162 3147 8161 3150 8165 3153 8167
3158 8156 3153 8115 3150 8115 3134 8140
3133 8145
TIME...MOT...LOC 2109Z 226DEG 11KT 3140 8171 3137 8150The Jacksonville radar (KJAX), 119 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:43 UTC.
2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Local media relayed a public report of golf ball sized hail falling in Townsend.
Hail larger than the size of quarters was reported at the McDonalds in Riceboro near Interstate 95.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Georgia in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, May 2017
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: 699283, 699284.