Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 176, NWS Columbia, SC

August 14, 2003Lexington County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 14, 2003, 7:30 PM EDT for Lexington County, South Carolina. It was in force for 45 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: Aug 14, 2003, 7:30 PM EDT (23:30 UTC)
Expired: Aug 14, 2003, 8:15 PM EDT
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Columbia, SC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Lexington County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 24 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:34 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 nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 162 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: 236 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -26 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 657 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 4 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 2 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 KCAE 142330
SVRCAE
SCC063-150015-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
728 PM EDT THU AUG 14 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
    SOUTHERN LEXINGTON COUNTY IN CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 815 PM EDT.

* AT 724 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER RED BANK..MOVING WEST AT 40 MPH.

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

THIS STORM WILL PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH. NUMEROUS 
TREES HAVE BEEN REPORTED DOWN ACROSS EASTERN LEXINGTON COUNTY WITH 
THIS STORM.

LAT...LON 3379 8111 3370 8139 3380 8146 3379 8151
          3388 8156 3392 8138 3398 8121

CDL

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 Aug 14, 2:58 PM EDT, 4 hours 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 14, 2:58 PM EDT, 4 hours 32 minutes before

WILL LEAVE A CHANCE/SLIGHT CHANCE OF EVENING CONVECTION IN THE
FORECAST. SHORT WAVE OVER EASTERN NC PUSHING SOUTHWEST ACROSS THE
AREA THIS EVENING.

MORNING FOG/STRATUS WAS LESS THIS MORNING THAN WEDNESDAY MORNING.
LOOKS LIKE TREND WILL CONTINUE. WILL HAVE PATCHY FOG FRIDAY MORNING
BUT NOT ENOUGH TO MENTION IN FORECAST.

ETA SHOWS MID LEVEL CAP ACROSS THE AREA FRIDAY. WILL ONLY MENTION
ISOLATED CONVECTION FOR THE AFTERNOON. UPPER LEVEL RIDGE CENTERED
WEST OF THE STATE WITH FLOW FROM THE NORTH/NORTHEAST. TEMPS SHOULD
WARM INTO THE LOWER 90S. SURFACE FRONT AND UPPER TROUGH MOVES INTO
THE AREA SATURDAY BRINGING A CHANCE OF TSTMS. MAY EVEN BE AN
ISOLATED SHOWER OR TSTM LATE FRIDAY NIGHT. TEMPS A DEGREE OR TWO
COOLER WITH MORE CLOUDINESS EXPECTED.

EXTENDED DISCUSSION:
SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...UPPER TROUGH OVER THE EASTERN U.S. FROM
NEW ENGLAND TO THE MS RIVER VALLEY. SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT ACROSS THE
REGION WITH SHORT WAVES ROTATING THROUGH. ECMWF MORE PROGRESSIVE
WITH TROUGH MOVING OFF THE COAST TUESDAY RIDGING INTO THE AREA FOR
WEDNESDAY. WILL KEEP SCATTERED AFTERNOON/EVENING CONVECTION IN THE
FORECAST PER CLIMO.

FCSTID =   10
CAE   72  93  73  92 /  20  10  10  40
AGS   70  93  70  93 /  20  10  10  40
SSC   72  93  72  92 /  20  10  10  40
OGB   72  93  73  93 /  20  10  10  40

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

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 14, 5:02 AM EDT, 14 hours 28 minutes before

GAZ040-063>065-077-SCZ015-016-018-020>022-025>031-035>038-041-141200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
502 AM EDT THU AUG 14 2003

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

.DAY ONE...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

LCV

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 14, 5:17 PM EDT, 2 hours 13 minutes before

SCZ016-142215-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
517 PM EDT THU AUG 14 2003

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL IMPACT CHESTERFIELD COUNTY THROUGH 615
PM EDT...

AT 517 PM EDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN NORTH CAROLINA. THIS STORM WILL MOVE INTO
WESTERN CHESTERFIED COUNTY. THIS STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT
AREAS IN AND AROUND PAGELAND AND JEFFERSON THROUGH 615 PM EDT.

GUSTY WINDS OF 35 TO 45 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED ALONG WITH FREQUENT
LIGHTNING.

AWP

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 14, 6:56 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Lexington, Richland	34 min

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.