Alert archive / Georgia / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 19, NWS Charleston, SC

July 25, 2003Chatham County, Georgia

NWS Charleston, SC issued this flash flood warning at Jul 25, 2003, 11:45 PM EDT for Chatham County, Georgia. It was in force for 4 hr. 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 25, 2003, 11:45 PM EDT (03:45 UTC)
Expired: Jul 26, 2003, 3:30 AM EDT
In force: 4 hr
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), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:48 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, 3.8 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: 1122 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -46 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 712 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 29 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 49 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS52 KCHS 260346
FFWCHS
GAC051-260730-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
1145 PM EDT FRI JUL 25 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 330 AM EDT

* AT 1145 PM EDT...RADAR INDICATED A LARGE AREA OF MODERATE
  TO HEAVY RAIN OFF THE CHATHAM COUNTY COAST NEAR TYBEE ISLAND...
  MOVING WEST AT 20 MPH. WITH THE GROUND STILL SATURATED FROM THE 
  HEAVY RAINS THAT FELL THURSDAY...THIS RISK FOR FLASH FLOODING 
  WILL BE VERY HIGH. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES WILL BE 
  POSSIBLE THROUGH 330 AM.

* FLASH FLOODING WILL OCCUR IN AND AROUND...
  SAVANNAH...SKIDAWAY ISLAND...WILMINGTON ISLAND...
  ISLE OF HOPE...UNION JUNCTION...WINDSOR FOREST...
  BURROUGHS AND GARDEN CITY...

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS. IF FLOODING IS OBSERVED...ACT
QUICKLY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN
AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

LAT...LON 3185 8107 3198 8083 3210 8111 3217 8114
          3201 8132

$$

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGUS72 KCHS 260528
FFSCHS
GAC051-260730-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
128 AM EDT SAT JUL 26 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR CHATHAM COUNTY UNTIL
330 AM EDT...

AT 128 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A 
LARGE AREA OF MODERATE TO OCCASIONALLY HEAVY RAIN AFFECTING MUCH OF 
THE EASTERN CHATHAM COUNTY. RADAR ESTIMATES AS MUCH AS 1 INCH OF 
RAIN HAS FALLEN FROM DOWNTOWN SAVANNAH EASTWARD TO TYBEE ISLAND DOWN 
TO BEAULIEU. ALTHOUGH THE RAIN HAS TEMPORARILY DIMINISHED IN 
INTENSITY SINCE 1 AM...ANOTHER BATCH OF MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN 
DEVELOPING OFF THE COAST NEAR SAINT CATHERINES SOUND WILL AFFECT 
PARTS OF THE WARNED AREA DURING THE NEXT HOUR. NO REPORTS OF RENEWED 
FLOODING HAVE BEEN RECEIVED TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER 
SERVICE...HOWEVER THE RISK FOR FLASH FLOODING REMAINS HIGH.

FLASH FLOODING IS EXPECTED IN AND AROUND...BEAULIEU...ISLE OF HOPE...
RIVERSIDE...SANDFLY...SAVANNAH...SKIDAWAY ISLAND...THUNDERBOLT AND
WILMINGTON ISLAND.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE 
DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS. IF FLOODING IS OBSERVED...ACT 
QUICKLY. MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS. DO NOT STAY IN
AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.

LAT...LON 3205 8093 3195 8090 3191 8112 3211 8111

$$

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 26, 1:56 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	CHS	Jenkins	3 hr

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.