Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 100, NWS Columbia, SC

July 2, 2003Richland County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 2, 2003, 12:49 AM EDT for Richland County, South Carolina. It was in force for 41 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jul 2, 2003, 12:49 AM EDT (04:49 UTC)
Expired: Jul 2, 2003, 1:30 AM EDT
In force: 41 min
Issued by: NWS Columbia, SC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Richland County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 21 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:50 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.

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 watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jul 1, 9:55 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 00:00Z, 4.8 hours before the alert went out and 147 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: 257 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -19 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 769 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 111 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 287 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

354 
WUUS52 KCAE 020449
SVRCAE
SCC079-020530-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
1247 AM EDT WED JUL 2 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
   RICHLAND COUNTY IN CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 130 AM EDT.

* AT 1242 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF COLUMBIA..MOVING          
  NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
    FOREST ACRES.
    DENTSVILLE.
    COLUMBIA.

LAT...LON 3400 8104 3382 8095 3384 8065 3406 8067
          3423 8106

TTH

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 1, 10:15 PM EDT, 2 hours 34 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 1, 10:15 PM EDT, 2 hours 34 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
1015 PM EDT TUE JUL 1 2003

...CORRECTED TO INCLUDE CAE GA COUNTIES IN TORNADO WATCH...

A NEW ZONE PACKAGE WHICH EXTENDS TORNADO WATCH THROUGH 4 AM.
SAME COUNTIES. WILL MAKE NECESSARY ADJUSTMENTS IN GFE AND
SEND NEW ZONE PACKAGE.

FCSTID =    7
CAE   71  84  72  89 /  80  70  50  40
AGS   71  85  71  90 /  80  70  50  40
SSC   71  84  71  90 /  80  70  50  40
OGB   72  86  72  90 /  80  70  50  40

.CAE...
GA...FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY FOR ZONES GAZ040...
GAZ063>065.

SC...FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY FOR ZONES
SCZ015>016...SCZ018...SCZ020>022...SCZ025>028...SCZ030.

GA...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 4 AM WEDNESDAY MORNING FOR ZONES
GAZ040-063>065-077.

SC...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 4 AM WEDNESDAY MORNING FOR ZONES
SCZ018-020>022-025>031-035>038-041.

TTH

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 1, 5:18 AM EDT, 19 hours 31 minutes before

GAZ040-063>065-077-SCZ015-016-018-020>022-025>031-035>038-041-011115-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
518 AM EDT TUE JUL 1 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE MIDLANDS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
AND THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA.

.DAY ONE...

THE REMNANTS OF TROPICAL STORM BILL WILL MOVE FROM THE GULF COAST
REGION NORTHEAST TO THE MOUNTAINS OF TENNESSEE AND NORTH CAROLINA BY
WEDNESDAY MORNING. A FLOOD WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE CENTRAL
MIDLANDS...PIEDMONT...AND CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA. HEAVY RAIN IS
EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON. AS THE STORM
APPROACHES THE CAROLINAS TONIGHT...THERE IS ALSO POTENTIAL FOR
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

HEAVY RAIN IS EXPECTED THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...WITH CONTINUED
POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING. TOTAL RAINFALL THROUGH WEDNESDAY
AFTERNOON...3 TO 4 INCHES IN THE WATCH AREA.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.

AWP

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 1, 11:39 PM EDT, 1 hour 10 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA, SC
1139 PM EDT TUE JUL 01 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1130 PM    1E BARNWELL               SC   FLASH FLOOD
07/01/03   BARNWELL                       BARNWELL SHERIFF REPORTED
                                          FLOODING ON HIGHWAY 64
                                          EAST OF BARNWELL.

RCC

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 1, 10:38 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	CAE	Barnwell, Orangeburg	2 hr
Jul 1, 10:59 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	CAE	Barnwell	31 min
Jul 2, 12:52 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	CAE	Orangeburg	38 min
Jul 2, 1:40 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Kershaw, Sumter	50 min
Jul 2, 1:47 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Clarendon, Orangeburg	43 min
Jul 2, 2:36 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Clarendon	39 min
Jul 2, 2:43 AM EDT	Tornado Warning	CAE	Clarendon	47 min
Jul 2, 7:10 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	CAE	Lee	3 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 2003 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2003

Sources

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