Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 22, NWS Charleston, SC

July 2, 2003Colleton County, South Carolina

NWS Charleston, SC issued this tornado warning at Jul 2, 2003, 12:27 AM EDT for Colleton County, South Carolina. It was in force for 33 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 2, 2003, 12:27 AM EDT (04:27 UTC)
Expired
Jul 2, 2003, 1:00 AM EDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, SC
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Colleton County, SC

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 46 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:27 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
Jul 1, 9:55 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 00:00Z, 4.5 hours before the alert went out and 88 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 2003-07-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 257 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Charleston AFB, SC at 00:00Z on 2003-07-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 111 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
257 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-19 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
769 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
111 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
287 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

047 
WFUS52 KCHS 020427
TORCHS
SCC029-020500-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
1227 AM EDT WED JUL 2 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  COLLETON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA...

* UNTIL 100 AM EDT

* AT 1227 AM EDT...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF
  PRODUCING A TORNADO 4 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ASHTON...OR ABOUT 10 MILES
  NORTHEAST OF HAMPTON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  ASHTON...
  LODGE...
  PADGETTS AND COLLETON...
  SMOAKS...

A TORNADO MAY FORM AT ANY TIME. TAKE COVER NOW. ABANDON MOBILE HOMES
AND VEHICLES. MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM OR HALLWAY ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

TORNADOES AT NIGHT ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOU
SEE OR HEAR IT COMING...IT MAY BE TOO LATE. TAKE COVER NOW

LAT...LON 3303 8106 3290 8097 3311 8068 3324 8086

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 1, 10:58 PM EDTTornado WarningCHSAllendale32 min
Jul 1, 11:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSAllendale33 min
Jul 1, 11:49 PM EDTTornado WarningCHSHampton41 min
Jul 2, 12:59 AM EDTTornado WarningCHSColleton31 min
Jul 2, 1:17 AM EDTTornado WarningCHSDorchester58 min
Jul 2, 1:59 AM EDTSpecial Marine WarningCHS61 min
Jul 2, 2:15 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSColleton, Dorchester30 min
Jul 2, 12:07 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningCHS53 min
Jul 2, 5:53 PM EDTSpecial Marine WarningCHS37 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.