Alert archive / Georgia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 18, NWS Charleston, SC

July 24, 2003Chatham County, Georgia

NWS Charleston, SC issued this flash flood warning at Jul 24, 2003, 4:45 PM EDT for Chatham County, Georgia. It was in force for 105 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: Jul 24, 2003, 4:45 PM EDT (20:45 UTC)
Expired: Jul 24, 2003, 6:30 PM EDT
In force: 105 min
Issued by: NWS Charleston, SC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Chatham County, GA

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 68 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:47 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 12:00Z, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 144 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: 783 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 486 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -56 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 
WGUS52 KCHS 242044
FFWCHS
GAC051-242230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING...DANGEROUS FLOODING CONTINUES IN SAVANNAH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
445 PM EDT THU JUL 24 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  CHATHAM COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST GEORGIA...

* UNTIL 630 PM EDT

* AT 445 PM EDT...RADAR INDICATED MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN 
  CONTINUING TO FALL ACROSS MUCH OF CHATHAM COUNTY. BETWEEN 3 AND 
  5 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN FROM DOWNTOWN SAVANNAH SOUTHWEST TO 
  GARDEN CITY...UNION JUNCTION AND BURROUGHS SINCE 2 PM WITH THE
  HEAVIEST RAINS BEING CENTERED OVER DOWNTOWN SAVANNAH. CHATHAM 
  COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT CONTINUES TO REPORT FLASH FLOODING IN 
  DOWNTOWN SAVANNAH. FLASH FLOODING ALSO IS LIKELY IN PROGRESS ACROSS 
  MUCH OF THE COUNTY. AN ADDITIONAL 1 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN CAN BE 
  EXPECTED ACROSS THE WARNING AREA THROUGH 630 PM.

* FLASH FLOODING WILL OCCUR IN AND AROUND...
  GARDEN CITY...
  SAVANNAH AND PORT WENTWORTH...
  HUNTER ARMY AIRFIELD...UNION JUNCTION...BURROUGHS...

DURING HEAVY RAINS...KEEP CHILDREN AWAY FROM STORM DRAINS...WATER
CATCHMENTS...CREEKS AND STREAMS. SHALLOW GENTLY FLOWING WATER CAN
RISE RAPIDLY IN A MATTER OF MINUTES.

LAT...LON 3199 8130 3216 8118 3211 8113 3208 8107
          3208 8100 3197 8119

$$

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGUS72 KCHS 242146
FFSCHS
GAC051-242245-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
546 PM EDT THU JUL 24 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR CHATHAM COUNTY UNTIL
630 PM EDT...
...DANGEROUS FLOODING CONTINUES...

AT 546 PM EDT...RADAR INDICATED A LARGE AREA OF MODERATE RAIN 
FALLING ACROSS MUCH OF CHATHAM COUNTY. BETWEEN 3 AND 5 INCHES OF 
RAIN HAS FALLEN SINCE MID AFTERNOON IN AND AROUND THE COMMUNITIES OF 
SAVANNAH...UNION JUNCTION...SILK HOPE...HUNTER ARMY AIR 
FIELD...BURROUGHS AND GARDEN CITY. CHATHAM COUNTY EMERGENCY 
MANAGEMENT CONTINUES TO REPORT FLASH FLOODING IN PROGRESS IN 
DOWNTOWN SAVANNAH WITH NUMEROUS ROADS FLOODED. ALTHOUGH RADAR TRENDS 
SUGGEST THE HEAVIEST RAINS ARE SHIFTING INTO EASTERN CHATHAM COUNTY 
WHERE FLOODING RAINS HAVE NOT OCCURRED...AN ADDITIONAL 1/2 TO 1 INCH 
OF RAIN CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE AREAS THAT ARE ALREADY EXPERIENCING 
FLASH FLOODING.

FLASH FLOODING WILL CONTINUE IN AND AROUND...SAVANNAH... 
THUNDERBOLT...UNION JUNCTION...SILK HOPE...HUNTER ARMY AIR FIELD AND 
BURROUGHS.

DO NOT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD. STAY TUNED TO 
NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR THE LOCAL MEDIA FOR ADDITIONAL SEVERE WEATHER 
INFORMATION. REPORT ANY FLOODING OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY FLOODING TO 
LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS AND ASK THEM TO IMMEDIATELY RELAY 
THE REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON.

LAT...LON 3207 8105 3196 8119 3199 8129 3212 8114

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 24, 3:13 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	CHS	Chatham	92 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Georgia, 2003 Every flash flood 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.