South Atlantic Coastal Waters, 2021

Waterspout in South Atlantic Coastal Waters, August 7, 2021

August 7, 2021 · NWS CHS · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Light winds, high moisture, and an early morning land breeze led to conditions favorable for waterspouts across coastal waters.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

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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.

Light winds, high moisture, and an early morning land breeze led to conditions favorable for waterspouts across coastal waters.

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 7, 6:03 AM EST, 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 7, 6:03 AM EST, 7 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 7, 3:22 AM EST, 2 hours 48 minutes before
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The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 90 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 11:09 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 waterspout. Local standard time, as filed.

Waterspout, S Santee R to Edisto Beach Sc Out 20nm

When
August 7, 6:10 AM EST to 6:11 AM EST
Where
S Santee R to Edisto Beach Sc Out 20nm forecast zone, 5.56 mi S of Kiawah Island
Reported by
Social Media
Coordinates
32.520, -80.090

A picture posted on social media showed a waterspout a few miles off the coast of Seabrook Island.

What these are

Waterspout
A tornado over water. One that moves ashore is filed as a tornado from the coastline on.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in South Atlantic Coastal Waters in 2021Every state in 2021This day in weather history

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: 979044.