Charleston Weather » tornado watch http://blog.charlestonwx.com Updates on weather events for the Charleston, SC metro area. Thu, 22 Jul 2010 13:23:01 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.6 en hourly 1 Tornado Watch 789 until 9 PM http://blog.charlestonwx.com/2009/12/02/tornado-watch-789-until-9-pm/ http://blog.charlestonwx.com/2009/12/02/tornado-watch-789-until-9-pm/#comments Wed, 02 Dec 2009 19:24:48 +0000 Jared Smith http://blog.charlestonwx.com/2009/12/02/tornado-watch-789-until-9-pm/ It’s official, and about an hour before I thought: the Charleston area — and indeed, all of eastern SC — is now under a tornado watch. Primary threats cited in the watch discussion include damaging winds in excess of 70 MPH, half-inch sized hail, frequent and dangerous lightning, and of course tornadoes. The discussion in full:

Tornadoes…hail to 0.5 inch in diameter…thunderstorm wind
gusts to 70 mph…and dangerous lightning are possible in these
areas.

The Tornado Watch area is approximately along and 80 statute
miles either side of a line from 55 miles west southwest of
Savannah Georgia to 45 miles east northeast of Orangeburg South
Carolina. For a complete depiction of the watch see the
associated watch outline update (wous64 kwns wou9).

Remember…a Tornado Watch means conditions are favorable for
tornadoes and severe thunderstorms in and close to the watch
area. Persons in these areas should be on the lookout for
threatening weather conditions and listen for later statements
and possible warnings.

Other watch information…continue…ww 788…

Discussion…a mesolow/MCV in central GA will track newd along a
retreating warm front into central SC through the afternoon…and
ongoing pre-frontal storms will continue to spread newd over se GA
into srn SC. The moist and weakly unstable warm sector will surge
nwd across SC in advance of the low…while low-mid level vertical
shear will remain quite favorable for embedded supercells capable of
producing a few tornadoes and damaging winds.

Storms in southern Georgia have been kicking up a lot of lightning this afternoon, and as I write this, there are two active tornado warnings there. This is definitely something to watch closely as the afternoon progresses and we get into that rush hour time.

For the record, the time of next high tide is around 7:30. That is expected to be a lower high tide, forecasted at 5.15 feet; however, any rapid rainfall on top of an already soaked Downtown could once again put streets underwater this evening. RADAR is not estimating the same rainfall rates out of the Georgia storms as we saw this morning; however, anything above half an inch per hour could prove problematic for an already overwhelmed drainage system.

]]> http://blog.charlestonwx.com/2009/12/02/tornado-watch-789-until-9-pm/feed/ 1 Tornado Watch 777 has been canceled, end… http://blog.charlestonwx.com/2009/10/27/tornado-watch-777-has-been-canceled-end/ http://blog.charlestonwx.com/2009/10/27/tornado-watch-777-has-been-canceled-end/#comments Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:52:41 +0000 Jared Smith http://blog.charlestonwx.com/2009/10/27/tornado-watch-777-has-been-canceled-end/ Tornado Watch 777 has been canceled, ending this evening’s severe weather threat. Expect scattered showers to persist overnight and into tomorrow morning before some clearing and an unseasonably warm day — highs in the low to mid 80s are expected.

]]> http://blog.charlestonwx.com/2009/10/27/tornado-watch-777-has-been-canceled-end/feed/ 0 Tornado Watch 777 is in effect until mid… http://blog.charlestonwx.com/2009/10/27/tornado-watch-777-is-in-effect-until-mid/ http://blog.charlestonwx.com/2009/10/27/tornado-watch-777-is-in-effect-until-mid/#comments Tue, 27 Oct 2009 23:19:52 +0000 Jared Smith http://blog.charlestonwx.com/2009/10/27/tornado-watch-777-is-in-effect-until-mid/ Tornado Watch 777 is in effect until midnight for the entire Tri-County area, including Charleston Harbor. Convective activity associated with a warm front has been kicking off severe weather, including tornadic storms, west of Savannah, GA. This activity continues to move northeast and will affect us through the evening — likely from 8PM through midnight. Continue to watch @chswx on Twitter and identi.ca, as well as local media, in case a warning is issued later this evening.

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