Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 34, NWS Columbia, SC

March 20, 2003Sumter County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 20, 2003, 6:18 AM EST for Sumter County, South Carolina. It was in force for 72 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
Mar 20, 2003, 6:18 AM EST (11:18 UTC)
Expired
Mar 20, 2003, 7:30 AM EST
In force
72 min
Issued by
NWS Columbia, SC
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Sumter County, SC

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 00:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 129 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 00:00Z on 2003-03-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 7 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Charleston AFB, SC at 00:00Z on 2003-03-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 257 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
7 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-255 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
516 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
257 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
364 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS52 KCAE 201118
SVRCAE
SCC085-201230-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
605 AM EST THU MAR 20 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 730 AM EST.

* AT 605 AM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN THE EASTOVER AREA OF LOWER RICHLAND
  COUNTY. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEASTWARD NEAR 35 MPH. 

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

EXPECT WIND GUSTS OF 40 TO 60 MPH AND DAMAGING HAIL WITH THIS
THUNDERSTORM.

LAT...LON 3414 8048 3380 8034 3377 8059 3386 8062
          3395 8061 3400 8064 3406 8060

RJL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 19, 11:59 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEAiken46 min
Mar 20, 12:04 AM ESTTornado WarningCAEAiken, Barnwell26 min
Mar 20, 12:27 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEAiken, Barnwell33 min
Mar 20, 12:39 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEOrangeburg66 min
Mar 20, 5:23 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELexington, Orangeburg37 min
Mar 20, 5:41 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAECalhoun34 min
Mar 20, 5:45 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEAiken, Barnwell45 min
Mar 20, 5:50 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAERichland55 min
Mar 20, 6:11 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAESumter79 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 2003Every 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.