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SKYWARN · South Carolina · Georgia

NWS West Columbia CAE

23 counties, 4 radars, one forecaster on the warning desk when it goes bad. This page is what that desk is looking at, plus the nets that feed it.

Nothing active from this office

NWS checked 11:26 PM

Radar

NWS RIDGE · base reflectivity · last hour
KCAE radar loop

Deeper look: KCAE interactive ↗ · KCAE at College of DuPage ↗ · KGSP interactive ↗ · KGSP at College of DuPage ↗ - velocity, correlation coefficient and every tilt.

Satellite

GOES-East · SE sector · GeoColor
GOES-East · SE sector · GeoColor satellite image

NOAA STAR · updates every 5 min · all bands ↗

SPC outlook · day 1

categorical
SPC day 1 convective outlook

Marginal → Slight → Enhanced → Moderate → High · day 2 ↗ · mesoscale discussions ↗

Reports taken by this office today

0 · SPC preliminary
No spotter reports logged by CAE so far today (UTC).

Cameras near the office

none listed yet
No cameras listed near West Columbia yet. Know one?

Radar tells you what the storm is doing; these tell you what it looks like. Pictures open at their source - ODOT and the Mesonet allow linking, not republishing.

SKYWARN & weather nets for this office

Suggest or fix one →
No net is listed for NWS West Columbia yet. If you know the repeater and who runs it, suggest it - the state coordinator checks it and it shows up here and on the state hub. Never guess a frequency from memory; a wrong one during a warning is worse than none.

Citizen weather stations nearby

7 reporting within 200 mi · APRS, last 2 h
StationTempHumWindGustRain 24 hPressureDist
K4XP78°67%calm--1017.975 mi
NO4D77°70%calm--1018.381 mi
KQ4LLM76°71%calm---82 mi
KO4T-475°79%calm30.01"1018.7112 mi
KE4AMH74°77%calm--1018.3115 mi
KJ4RDP-1366°97%calm-0.01"1019.9118 mi
KO4APQ75°66%calm--1016.3124 mi

Heard on APRS-IS, receive only. These are privately owned stations reporting themselves — treat them as a hint about what the air is doing between the official sites, not as verified observations. Wind and gust are mph. See them on the map →

NOAA Weather Radio in this area

15 transmitters · this office’s first, neighbours after
162.525 MHz KHA35 · Orangeburgcovers Bamberg, Calhoun, Clarendon, Dorchester, Orangeburg, Richland, Sumter · 300 W · NWS Columbia
162.550 MHz KHB29 · Charlestoncovers Berkeley, Charleston, Clarendon (S), Colleton (E), Dorchester, Georgetown (SW), Orangeburg (S), Williamsburg (S) · 1000 W · NWS Charleston
162.425 MHz KHC27 · Rock Hillcovers Cherokee, Chester, Fairfield, Lancaster, Union, York · 1000 W · NWS Greenville-Spartanburg
162.425 MHz KHC28 · Kirkseycovers Columbia, Elbert, Lincoln · 1000 W · NWS Columbia
162.500 MHz KHC29 · Barnwellcovers Aiken, Allendale, Bamberg, Barnwell, Hampton, Orangeburg · 1000 W · NWS Columbia
162.400 MHz WNG597 · Ellerbecovers Chesterfield, Marlboro · 300 W · NWS Raleigh
162.450 MHz WNG627 · Aikencovers Columbia, Richmond · 300 W · NWS Columbia
162.425 MHz WWG77 · Sumtercovers Clarendon, Lee, Sumter · 300 W · NWS Columbia
162.400 MHz WXJ20 · Columbiacovers Calhoun, Fairfield, Kershaw, Lee, Lexington, Newberry, Orangeburg, Richland, Saluda, Sumter · 1000 W · NWS Columbia
162.550 MHz WXJ21 · Greenvillecovers Abbeville, Anderson, Cherokee, Greenville, Greenwood, Laurens, Newberry, Oconee, Pickens, Spartanburg, Union · 1000 W · NWS Greenville-Spartanburg
162.550 MHz WXJ22 · Florencecovers Chesterfield (S), Clarendon (N), Darlington, Dillon, Florence, Kershaw (E), Lee, Marion, Marlboro (S), Sumter (E), Williamsburg · 1000 W · NWS Wilmington
162.450 MHz WXJ23 · Beaufortcovers Allendale (S), Bamberg (S), Beaufort, Colleton, Hampton, Jasper · 500 W · NWS Charleston
162.550 MHz WXK54 · Augustacovers Burke, Columbia, Emanuel, Glascock, Hancock, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Lincoln, McDuffie, Richmond, Screven, Taliaferro, Warren, Washington, Wilkes (EAST) · 1000 W · NWS Columbia
162.450 MHz WXK90 · Cherawcovers Chesterfield, Darlington, Lee (NORTH), Marlboro · 300 W · NWS Columbia
162.475 MHz WXM93 · Crosscovers Berkeley (N), Clarendon, Orangeburg (SE), Williamsburg (NW) · 100 W · NWS Charleston

What to report, and where

Size charts and the full guide →
🌪️ Tornado, funnel, wall cloud
  • ·Tornado on the ground (say if you see debris)
  • ·Funnel cloud - rotating, not touching down
  • ·Wall cloud, especially a rotating one
  • ·Where it is relative to you, and which way it's moving
🧊 Hail
  • ·The largest stone, compared to a coin or ball (chart below)
  • ·1″ (quarter) is the severe threshold - smaller is still worth a report to most offices
  • ·How long it fell and whether it's covering the ground
💨 Wind
  • ·Measured gusts of 40 mph+; 58 mph is severe
  • ·Damage: trees down, limbs bigger than your arm, roof or structure damage, power lines
  • ·Say whether it was measured or estimated
🌊 Flooding
  • ·Water over a road, especially moving water
  • ·Creeks and rivers rising fast or out of their banks
  • ·Rainfall of 1″ or more in an hour if you have a gauge
❄️ Winter
  • ·Snowfall of 1″ an hour or more, and totals
  • ·Freezing rain and ice accumulation on wires and trees
  • ·Visibility under ¼ mile, blowing and drifting
🚫 Not this
  • ·Lightning and thunder on their own
  • ·Rain that isn't causing flooding
  • ·Ordinary dark clouds, scud, or clouds that only look scary
  1. 1 · The net, if one is up

    When the office activates SKYWARN, a net control on the local repeater takes reports in a set format and relays them straight to the forecaster. Listen first, check in when asked, keep it short: who, what, where, when.

  2. 2 · The office directly

    No net running? Every office has a spotter line or online report form on its SKYWARN page - for you that’s NWS West Columbia. Trained spotters get the number in class; anyone can use the form.

  3. 3 · Tell the room here

    /report hail quarter · 71st & Memorial in #sc-wx puts it in front of everyone watching the state. It does not reach the NWS - do 1 or 2 for that.

Counties served by NWS West Columbia · 23
GAC033 Burke
GAC073 Columbia
GAC181 Lincoln
GAC189 McDuffie
GAC245 Richmond
SCC003 Aiken
SCC009 Bamberg
SCC011 Barnwell
SCC017 Calhoun
SCC025 Chesterfield
SCC027 Clarendon
SCC037 Edgefield
SCC039 Fairfield
SCC055 Kershaw
SCC057 Lancaster
SCC061 Lee
SCC063 Lexington
SCC065 McCormick
SCC071 Newberry
SCC075 Orangeburg
SCC079 Richland
SCC081 Saluda
SCC085 Sumter