National Weather Service
Forecast Office
5777 South Aviation Avenue
Charleston, SC  29406-6162
(843) 744-0303

Weather Office Staff  

The Charleston National Weather Service Forecast Office has forecast and warning responsibilities for portions of Southeastern South Carolina and Georgia. The office's Doppler Radar is located in northern Jasper County, SC...in the town of Grays which is about 75 miles west-southwest of Charleston. Please view the County Warning Area Map for a look at the counties we cover. There are 117 weather forecast offices with Doppler radar in the United States.

This office provides services such as public and aviation forecasts, local observations, severe weather warnings, and NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts. Public forecasts include short term and beach forecasts, and weather discussions. We issue a Charleston harbor forecast and zone and coastal waters forecasts. This office's Severe weather program includes the issuance of special weather and Hurricane local statements, and Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado warnings. We are also responsible for terminal aviation forecasts, and climate data for both the Charleston and Savannah International Airports.

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Office Programs:

• Spotter Network-

  Our warning program has improved due to advances in computer technology. Many tasks are now automated at NWS offices. However, even with the best observing and forecast equipment, a spotter report is useful. An established network of spotters across our CWA gives a forecaster "ground truth" data that is compared to what Doppler Radar is showing. A trained weather spotter's report helps forecasters make a decision to issue a warning in the area that the report was taken. A weather spotter contacts our office on a special 800 phone line with a severe weather report that includes a description, location, and time of occurrence. Would you like to become a SKYWARN Weather Spotter? 

• Amateur Radio-

  We monitor several local amateur radio repeater frequencies on the 2 meter and 440 MHz bands. We have two Kenwood-251 radios; one is used for packet radio so that during severe weather we will be able to send severe weather bulletins. Amateur radio operators will be able to send in a severe report over their personal computer. Directional and omnidirectional antennas located on a 60ft. tower next to the office insure that we are in contact all with the amateur radio 2-meter repeaters from Charleston to Savannah. We activate a local spotter network during severe weather by calling the primary network control operator. 

• Co-op Program-

  Our coverage of NWS cooperative observers gives forecasters a higher concentration of observations in areas where surface data is not received. Observations include temperature, precipitation, and river stages. Please view our Cooperative observer site map.

• Outreach - mentoring, office tours-

  Please contact us during normal business hours Mon.-Fri. if you would like an office tour (843-554-4851). We normally conduct tours for the 5th grade and up. Occasionally we give presentations at local schools, businesses, and civic clubs.

• Upper-air Program-

  We release a helium-filled weather balloon at 6am and 6pm LST each day. The balloon carries a small battery powered radiosonde which collects weather data as it rises to heights of 10 miles above the Earth's surface. When the balloon bursts it has expanded to the size of a room in a house; a parachute then carries the reusable instrument back to the surface. Ground equipment at our office tracks a radio frequency sent by the radiosonde so that we may get a vertical cross section of pressure, humidity, and temperature measurements. The ground equipment also computes wind speed and direction at various heights above the surface. This is done by calculating the radiosonde's change in position with time relative to the ground station. A computer codes the upper air data, and it is sent to a national supercomputer in Washington, D.C. for input to the forecast models. With a worldwide network of three dimensional upper air observations, weather forecasts of temperature, clouds, and precipitation can be produced for periods up to 5-7 days into the future.