Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Columbia, SC

May 6, 2003Aiken County, South Carolina

NWS Columbia, SC issued this tornado warning at May 6, 2003, 2:26 AM EDT for Aiken County, South Carolina. It was in force for 49 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, 2:26 AM EDT (06:26 UTC)
Expired
May 6, 2003, 3:15 AM EDT
In force
49 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), 58 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:28 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, 1:55 AM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 00:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 161 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 2003-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2251 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 2003-05-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 101 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2251 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
512 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
101 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
164 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.3
Supercell composite
10.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

180 
WFUS52 KCAE 060626
TORCAE
SCC003-060715-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
223 AM EDT TUE MAY 6 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN COLUMBIA HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 315 AM EDT.

* AT 223 AM EDT...RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING
  TORNADO NEAR COUCHTON...ABOUT 8 MILES NORTHEAST OF AIKEN...OR 9
  MILES NORTHWEST OF WINDSOR...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE...
    COUCHTON.
    WINDSOR.
    KITCHINGS MILL.
    WAGENER.
    SALLEY.

TAKE COVER NOW.

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

LAT...LON 3352 8171 3368 8169 3364 8120 3347 8140

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, 2:47 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, 4:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEAiken42 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

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