Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 68, NWS Columbia, SC

May 6, 2003Aiken County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 6, 2003, 4:33 PM EDT for Aiken County, South Carolina. It was in force for 42 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
May 6, 2003, 4:33 PM EDT (20:33 UTC)
Expired
May 6, 2003, 5:15 PM EDT
In force
42 min
Issued by
NWS Columbia, SC
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Aiken County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:36 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.

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 6, 2:40 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 171 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 12:00Z on 2003-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 870 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 12:00Z on 2003-05-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 80 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
870 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-21 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
821 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
60 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
80 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
127 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
4.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS52 KCAE 062033
SVRCAE
SCC003-062115-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
433 PM EDT TUE MAY 6 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 515 PM EDT.

* AT 431 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF GLOVERVILLE..MOVING EAST
  AT 45 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...
    AIKEN.
    NEW ELLENTON.

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. REMEMBER...SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCED
WARNING.

THIS STORM WILL PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH AND LARGE 
HAIL.

LAT...LON 3384 8160 3353 8200 3326 8169 3365 8120

MWC/BC

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 6, 1:23 AM EDTTornado WarningCAEEdgefield22 min
May 6, 1:32 AM EDTTornado WarningCAESaluda28 min
May 6, 2:01 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningCAEEdgefield, McCormick, Saluda4 hr
May 6, 2:09 AM EDTTornado WarningCAELexington36 min
May 6, 2:26 AM EDTTornado WarningCAEAiken49 min
May 6, 2:47 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELexington43 min
May 6, 2:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEMcCormick50 min
May 6, 3:18 PM EDTTornado WarningCAEMcCormick27 min
May 6, 3:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEEdgefield, Saluda45 min
May 6, 3:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEMcCormick48 min
May 6, 4:11 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEAiken, Lexington49 min
May 6, 4:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEEdgefield46 min
May 6, 4:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAERichland46 min
May 6, 4:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELee, Sumter46 min
May 6, 5:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAECalhoun46 min
May 6, 5:18 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEAiken27 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.