Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Columbia, SC

March 20, 2003Aiken County, Barnwell County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this tornado warning at Mar 20, 2003, 12:04 AM EST for Aiken County, Barnwell County, South Carolina. It was in force for 26 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, 12:04 AM EST (05:04 UTC)
Expired: Mar 20, 2003, 12:30 AM EST
In force: 26 min
Issued by: NWS Columbia, SC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Aiken County, SC, Barnwell County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:06 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 nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 00:00Z, 5.1 hours before the alert went out and 169 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: 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.

362 
WFUS52 KCAE 200504
TORCAE
SCC003-011-200530-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
1202 AM EST THU MAR 20 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
    AIKEN COUNTY IN CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA
    BARNWELL COUNTY IN CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 1230 AM EST.

* AT 1156 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO NEAR THE POINT WHERE THE COUNTIES OF
  BURKE...BARNWELL AND AIKEN MEET.  THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST
  AT 30 MPH AND WILL TRACK NEAR THE AIKEN AND BARNWELL COUNTY LINE.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...
    JACKSON.
    NEW ELLENTON.

GO TO A BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.

LAT...LON 3332 8195 3316 8187 3328 8142 3349 8152

RJL

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 19, 11:59 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Aiken	46 min
Mar 20, 12:27 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Aiken, Barnwell	33 min
Mar 20, 12:39 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Orangeburg	66 min
Mar 20, 5:23 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Lexington, Orangeburg	37 min
Mar 20, 5:41 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Calhoun	34 min
Mar 20, 5:45 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Aiken, Barnwell	45 min
Mar 20, 5:50 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Richland	55 min
Mar 20, 6:11 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Sumter	79 min
Mar 20, 6:18 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CAE	Sumter	72 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South Carolina, 2003 Every tornado warning in 2003 Tornadoes 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.