A line of strong thunderstorms developed along a cold front approaching southeast Georgia in the afternoon hours. A few of these storms produced damaging wind gusts and 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.
A line of strong thunderstorms developed along a cold front approaching southeast Georgia in the afternoon hours. A few of these storms produced damaging wind gusts and 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, 3:52 PM EST, 36 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Charleston SC 452 PM EDT Fri May 30 2025 .SYNOPSIS... A cold front will sweep through our area tonight. High pressure will build in over the weekend and prevail through the middle of next week. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM SATURDAY MORNING/... A Severe Thunderstorm Watch has been issued for the entire forecast area through 11PM this evening. A large upper trough with an embedded shortwave will slide toward the East Coast. A cold front is expected to drop southeast into our forecast area late this evening and move offshore shortly after midnight. Regional radars currently show a line of convection not too far upstream, across the South Carolina Midlands, working its way east southeast toward the local CWA. Winds will be relatively parallel to the front by the time it reaches our area, so we still expect some weakening at least along the southern portion of the line headed into southeast Georgia. On the other hand, convective indices are rather favorable with 0-6 km bulk shear around 40 kt and llvl lapse rates around 7-8C, while CAPE is somewhat limited around 1500 J/kg. Damaging winds would be the primary threat, supported by CAMS which have been consistently showing bowing segments in simulated reflectivity moving across portions of the southeast South Carolina counties. Lifted Indices of -6C would support some hail risk, and can't completely rule out an isolated tornado. Quick-moving storms will keep heavier rains short- lived, thus we do not anticipate widespread flooding issues. Storms will quickly track across the area moving offshore around 9-10 PM. Cooler, drier air will spread in from the west overnight, noted by dewpoints dropping into the mid to upper 50s. Good radiational cooling conditions are expected late tonight/early this morning with clearing skies, and winds not necessarily calm, but becoming light. Overnight low temperatures will dip into the upper 50s inland and low to mid 60s closer to the coast. Along the beaches and Downtown Charleston, temperatures could remain mild, in the upper 60s. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM SATURDAY MORNING THROUGH MONDAY/... Saturday: Now on the backside of the upper level trough axis and surface front, marginally cooler temperatures will result in afternoon highs in the lower to mid 80s, warmest along the coast. Winds will remain out of the west-northwest sustained 10 to 15 mph with gusts into the lower 20s, with dewpoints in the upper 50s to lower 60s. Winds weaken overnight as a cold front may move in from the north, potentially stalling across the South Carolina lowcountry, with overnight lows in the lower 60s to upper 60s, warmest along the coast. Sunday: Upper level trough deepens ahead of an approaching shortwave, with the aforementioned front pushing north throughout the day. This will result in temperatures again in the mid to upper 80s, warmest along the coast. The shortwave moves across the area during the evening and overnight hours, bringing our next chances for showers and thunderstorms. NBM has very low and scattered pops for the region as this shortwave moves through, which admittedly matches up with what the models are suggesting, but would not be surprised to see that increase over the next couple model cycles. Monday: The trough axis will be pushing off into the Atlantic throughout the morning hours, with a surface high pressure moving down into the region throughout the day. An afternoon sea breeze may spark off a round of showers and thunderstorms, but as we are under the area of subsidence aloft, probabilities remain largely below 20 percent. Afternoon highs in the mid 80s to lower 90s are expected, warmest across southeastern Georgia. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY/... Upper level ridging occurs behind the exiting trough, bringing dry conditions back to the area. With mid to upper level geopotential heights remaining on the higher side of climatology, though well below the 90th percentile, normal to above normal temperatures are expected with daily highs in the upper 80s to lower 90s. Chances for rainfall return Thursday afternoon and evening as mid-level moisture increases. && .AVIATION /20Z FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... A line of thunderstorms is expected to precede a cold front and move across the terminals early this evening. We introduced a 2-hr TEMPO of TSRA with gusty winds and lowered visibilities during the time of impact. Storms will be moving from the northwest and likely to reach KCHS/KJZI around 22Z and then KSAV about an hour later. Also storms should be moving relatively quick so the 2 hour window would likely be plenty long enough to cover the impacts. These storms could be strong to severe, with the greater chance across KCHS/KJZI. Therefore we included gusts of 30-35 kt at KCHS and KJZI with 25 kt at KSAV, but there could be stronger gusts if the severe threat comes to realization. However, the activity could be on a diminishing trend by the time it reaches the terminals, so there is still some uncertainty regarding the strength. Once convection ends, we expect fairly rapid clearing with clear skies and solid VFR conditions by Saturday morning. Extended Aviation Outlook: No aviation concerns with greater than 50% confidence. && .MARINE... Tonight: A cold front will push offshore late tonight, shifting winds out of the west northwest. Mariners should be aware that late this evening, a line of thunderstorms will be quickly pushing offshore ahead of the front, some of which could be strong to severe. Strong/damaging wind gusts and hail are possible within stronger storms. A Severe Thunderstorm Watch has been issued for all marine zones through 11PM this evening. Otherwise, gusts outside of convection will reach 20 kt, except for the Charleston County nearshore waters where some 25 kt gusts will occur. An ongoing Small Craft Advisory continues for the Charleston County nearshore waters into tonight. Wind gusts in the Charleston Harbor will be marginal, so we will continue to monitor to see if a SCA is warranted. Seas will peak no more than 4-5 feet. Saturday will see breezy west-northwesterly winds throughout the morning hours, turning southwesterly during the afternoon, with strongest winds expected along the South Carolina nearshore waters at up to 20 knots. While we currently do not have the winds reaching small craft advisory criteria on Saturday, mariners should check back before heading out as the forecast may favor stronger winds. Wave heights of 2 to 4 feet are expected. Winds weaken overnight into Sunday as they become westerly. The winds on Sunday will remain weak, becoming southwesterly and then southerly throughout the afternoon hours. Waves of 1 to 2 feet expected. There is a low end chance for scattered thunderstorms Sunday afternoon and evening, which may be capable of producing breezy winds. Monday into Wednesday: Outside of potential showers and thunderstorm activity on Monday afternoon/evening, no marine concerns at this time. && .CHS WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GA...None. SC...None. MARINE...Small Craft Advisory until 3 AM EDT Saturday for AMZ350. && NEAR TERM...BRS SHORT TERM...APT LONG TERM...APT AVIATION...APT/BRS MARINE...APT/BRS
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Charleston SC 505 PM EDT Fri May 30 2025 GAZ087-088-099>101-114>119-137>141-SCZ040-042>045-047>052-312115- 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- 505 PM EDT Fri May 30 2025 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for southeast Georgia and southeast South Carolina. .DAY ONE...Tonight. See the Graphical Hazardous Weather Outlook for more information about the following possible hazardous weather: - Severe Thunderstorm .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Saturday through Thursday. The probability for widespread hazardous weather is low. && The Graphical Hazardous Weather Outlook can be found at: https://www.weather.gov/erh/ghwo/?wfo=chs
The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 62 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:28 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A tree was reported down on 5 Chop Road via amateur radio.
Nickel sized hail was reported at a home in the 1700 block of Hadden Road.
Candler County Emergency Management provided numerous ground and aerial photos of wind damage on a farm in the 1700 block of Hadden Road. Numerous trees were uprooted on the property, with one tree down on a home. The tree penetrated the roof of the home and cracked a brick exterior wall down to the foundation. A back porch awning was ripped off another home and blown downstream. Also, a large open frame out building was destroyed with sheet metal and wood debris scattered downstream.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Georgia in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, May 2025
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: 1263837, 1263836, 1263838.