Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 82, NWS Charleston, SC

August 18, 2002Chatham County, Georgia

NWS Charleston, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 18, 2002, 3:28 PM EDT for Chatham County, Georgia. It was in force for 62 min. 3 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Aug 18, 2002, 3:28 PM EDT (19:28 UTC)
Expired
Aug 18, 2002, 4:30 PM EDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Chatham County, GA

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 18, 3:45 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50 ESavannah, GASeveral trees and large limbs were down. A tree fell on a car at Skidaway Road and 52nd Street.
Aug 18, 4:05 PM EDTHail 0.88Thunderbolt, GA
Aug 18, 4:10 PM EDTHail 1.25Savannah, GA

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 nearest sounding before it

Jacksonville, FL (KJAX), launched 12:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 174 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Jacksonville, FL at 12:00Z on 2002-08-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 705 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Jacksonville, FL at 12:00Z on 2002-08-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -28 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
705 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-81 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
942 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-1 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.

000 
WUUS52 KCHS 181928
SVRCHS
GAC051-182030-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
325 PM EDT SUN AUG 18 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...

* UNTIL 430 PM EDT.

* AT 325 PM EDT...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ALONG THE
SAVANNAH RIVER...OR ABOUT 5 MILES EAST OF DOWNTOWN SAVANNAH...MOVING 
SOUTH AT 10 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE SAVANNAH AND 
THUNDERBOLT.

DIME SIZE HAIL AND 60 MPH WINDS ARE EXPECTED IN THE WARNED AREA.

BE ALERT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AS STORMS APPROACH.
SEEK SHELTER IN A STURDY BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

$$

LAT...LON 3202 8090 3207 8104 3196 8116 3179 8095

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 Charleston, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Aug 18, 10:00 AM EDT, 5 hours 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 18, 10:00 AM EDT, 5 hours 28 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
10 AM EDT SUN AUG 18 2002

CONVECTION BEGINNING TO FIRE ACROSS SC/GA SO WILL REMOVE AFTERNOON
WORDING. EVERYTHING ELSE LOOKS GOOD.

MARINE...PRES GRADIENT MUCH TIGHTER OVER THE FAR N SECTIONS OF THE
COASTAL WATERS THIS AM...WITH MHX SOUNDING SHOWING 15-20 KTS IN THE
BOUNDARY LAYER. THIS SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO PREVENT MUCH IF ANY ATLC
SEA BREEZE N OF CHS THIS AFTRN. I PLAN ON RAISING WINDS AND SEAS
OVER N PORTIONS...LOWERING SEAS SLGTLY TO THE S...AND INCLUDE
MENTION OF SEA BREEZE OVER GA WATERS WHERE FLOW IS MUCH LIGHTER.
WITH SHORT WAVE MOVING INTO THE AREA FROM THE N AND SOME DIFLUENCE
ALOFT...CONVECTION IS ALREADY FORMING OVER SC AND OFFSHR. WILL
MAINTAIN SCT COVERAGE.

.CHS...
GA...NONE.
SC...NONE.

HSA/PM

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 18, 3:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSChatham57 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 2002Every 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.