Thunderstorm Wind — Aiken, South Carolina

2024-08-03 · near Couchton, Aiken, South Carolina

Event narrative

Aiken County dispatch reported that a tree blocked the roadway near the intersection of New Holland Rd and Wagener Rd. Time estimated by radar.

Wider weather episode

An upper trough and frontal boundary was approaching the region from the west. The atmosphere was quite unstable with surface based CAPE around 3000-4000 J/kg, 3000 J/kg of mixed layer CAPE. Wind shear was relatively weak with effective bulk shear less than 25 knots and atmospheric moisture was high with precipitable water values around 2 inches and dewpoints in the mid to upper 70s. Relatively weak wind shear combined with the very moist and unstable air mass supported slow moving and training thunderstorms conducive to flash flooding. Several days of rainfall preceding this event contributed to the occurrence and severity of flash flooding in the Blythewood area and north of downtown Columbia due to saturated ground.

View location on OpenStreetMap → (33.5800, -81.6000)

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event_id 1193380. Narrative written by the NWS forecast office that issued the report.