Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 26, NWS Columbia, SC

May 3, 2002Aiken County, South Carolina; Richmond County, Georgia

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 2002, 6:03 PM EDT for Aiken County, South Carolina; Richmond County, Georgia. It was in force for 42 min. 6 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 3, 2002, 6:03 PM EDT (22:03 UTC)
Expired: May 3, 2002, 6:45 PM EDT
In force: 42 min
Issued by: NWS Columbia, SC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Richmond County, GA, Aiken County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 85 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:02 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 3, 6:04 PM EDT	Hail 1.75	Martinez, GA	TV26 in Augusta reported golf ball size hail on Lewiston road in the Martinez area.
May 3, 6:15 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 70 M	Augusta, GA	Spotter recorded gust to 70mph at home.
May 3, 6:20 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 70 M	Augusta, GA	Public reported trees down.
May 3, 6:20 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	North Augusta, SC	General public reported dime size hail.
May 3, 6:20 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Belvedere, SC	Spotter reported trees down in Belvedere.
May 3, 6:36 PM EDT	Hail 1	Warrenville, SC	Spotter reported quarter size hail.

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 3, 6:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	4 hr
May 3, 3:15 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 191 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 1445 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -140 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 808 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 39 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 159 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WUUS52 KCAE 032203
SVRCAE
GAC245-SCC003-032245-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
601 PM EDT FRI MAY 3 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
    RICHMOND COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA     
    AIKEN COUNTY IN CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 645 PM EDT.

* AT 600 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER WEST AUGUSTA..MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...  
     AUGUSTA    
     GLOVERVILLE.
     AIKEN.

THIS STORM WILL PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.

LAT...LON 3360 8212 3342 8210 3343 8160 3368 8159

RCC

The office that day

Everything else NWS Columbia, SC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 3, 3:05 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Lancaster	25 min
May 3, 6:47 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Aiken	43 min
May 3, 7:06 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Barnwell	39 min
May 3, 7:32 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CAE	Barnwell	28 min
May 3, 7:36 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Bamberg	39 min
May 3, 7:57 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Orangeburg	48 min
May 3, 5:43 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Columbia	47 min
May 3, 6:07 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	McDuffie	23 min
May 3, 6:31 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CAE	Richmond	29 min
May 3, 7:12 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Burke	33 min
May 3, 7:46 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Burke	29 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 2002 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 2002 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2002

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.