Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 69, NWS Columbia, SC

July 3, 2002Chesterfield County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 3, 2002, 2:48 PM EDT for Chesterfield County, South Carolina. It was in force for 27 min. 1 report 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: Jul 3, 2002, 2:48 PM EDT (18:48 UTC)
Expired: Jul 3, 2002, 3:15 PM EDT
In force: 27 min
Issued by: NWS Columbia, SC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Chesterfield County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 124 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:59 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
Jul 3, 3:00 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	Pageland, SC	Sheriff reported 3/4 inch hail in Pageland.

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.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 143 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: 429 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -175 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1263 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 39 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

318 
WUUS52 KCAE 031848
SVRCAE
SCC025-031915-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
248 PM EDT WED JUL 3 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
    NORTHWESTERN CHESTERFIELD COUNTY IN CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 315 PM EDT.

* AT 241 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER PAGELAND..MOVING SOUTH AT 5 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM 
INCLUDE...NORTHWESTERN CHESTERFIELD 

THIS STORM WILL PRODUCE DIME SIZE HAIL.

LAT...LON 3477 8053 3457 8038 3495 7994 3512 8015

LCV

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Columbia, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jul 3, 2:25 AM EDT, 12 hours 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 3, 2:25 AM EDT, 12 hours 23 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
225 AM EDT WED JUL 3 2002

WEAK SURFACE TROUGH EXPECTED TO CONTINUE OVER THE AREA THROUGH
THURSDAY. THIS COUPLED WITH WEAK UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES MOVING
SOUTH AND MODERATE AFTERNOON INSTABILITY WILL RESULT IN SCATTERED
MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS TODAY AND THURSDAY.
AVIATION MODEL SHOWS SOME DRYING FOR FRIDAY SO WILL LOWER CHANCE OF
RAIN TO 20 PERCENT. ANOTHER SHORTWAVE MOVING SOUTH ON SATURDAY PLUS
WEAK SURFACE FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE NORTH ON THE WEEKEND. WILL
KEEP SLIGHT CHANCE OF AFTERNOON SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY
AND LATER FORECASTS MAY EXTEND THIS INTO SUNDAY. EXPECT HIGH
TEMPERATURES TO BE 1-2 DEGREES LOWER THAN YESTERDAY DO THE ADDED
SOIL MOISTURE THEN BACK IN THE MID 90S FOR THURSDAY. SEASONABLE
TEMPERATURES FOR THE WEEKEND.

FIRE WEATHER TODAY...MIXING HEIGHT 5500 FEET. TRANSPORT WIND
SOUTHWEST 9 MPH.

FCSTID = 30
CAE   93  72  95  73 /  40  20  30  10
AGS   93  70  94  71 /  40  20  30  10
SSC   93  72  94  73 /  40  20  30  10
OGB   93  72  94  73 /  40  20  30  10

.CAE...
GA...NONE.
SC...NONE.

RCC

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 2, 10:28 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Aiken	32 min
Jul 3, 3:06 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Lancaster	39 min
Jul 3, 4:36 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Chesterfield	39 min
Jul 3, 4:41 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Fairfield	49 min
Jul 3, 5:25 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Newberry	50 min
Jul 3, 7:16 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	McCormick	29 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 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.