Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Charleston, SC

March 20, 2003Liberty County, Georgia

NWS Charleston, SC issued this tornado warning at Mar 20, 2003, 2:02 PM EST for Liberty County, Georgia. It was in force for 28 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, 2:02 PM EST (19:02 UTC)
Expired
Mar 20, 2003, 2:30 PM EST
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, SC
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Liberty County, GA

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 100 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:05 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
Mar 20, 8:40 AM ESTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Jacksonville, FL (KJAX), launched 12:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 155 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, Jacksonville, FL at 12:00Z on 2003-03-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1354 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, Jacksonville, FL at 12:00Z on 2003-03-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 242 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1354 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-49 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
703 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
242 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
206 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.9
Supercell composite
9.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS52 KCHS 201902 CCA
TORCHS
GAC179-201930-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC
200 PM EST THU MAR 20 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  LIBERTY COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST GEORGIA...

* UNTIL 230 PM EST

* AT 200 PM EST...RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO NEAR          
  FLEMINGTON...OR ABOUT 2 MILES NORTHEAST OF HINESVILLE...MOVING     
  NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  FORT STEWART AND FLEMINGTON...

TAKE COVER NOW IF YOU WAIT UNTIL YOU SEE OR HEAR IT COMING...IT MAY
BE TOO LATE TO GET TO A SAFE PLACE

LAT...LON 3193 8166 3176 8159 3186 8146 3199 8162

$$

24

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 19, 8:10 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSLong65 min
Mar 19, 8:50 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSLiberty40 min
Mar 19, 9:20 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSChatham25 min
Mar 19, 9:27 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSBryan33 min
Mar 19, 10:04 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSLong26 min
Mar 19, 10:33 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSLiberty27 min
Mar 20, 1:39 PM ESTTornado WarningCHSLong36 min
Mar 20, 1:56 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSLiberty34 min
Mar 20, 2:00 PM ESTTornado WarningCHSLiberty30 min
Mar 20, 2:14 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSBryan31 min
Mar 20, 2:22 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSLong38 min
Mar 20, 2:28 PM ESTTornado WarningCHSBryan32 min
Mar 20, 2:29 PM ESTTornado WarningCHSBryan31 min
Mar 20, 2:31 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSLiberty59 min
Mar 20, 2:36 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSChatham39 min
Mar 20, 2:41 PM ESTTornado WarningCHSBulloch, Candler34 min
Mar 20, 3:16 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSBryan, Chatham44 min
Mar 20, 3:17 PM ESTTornado WarningCHSScreven43 min
Mar 20, 3:39 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSLong36 min
Mar 20, 4:01 PM ESTTornado WarningCHSLiberty29 min
Mar 20, 4:07 PM ESTTornado WarningCHSMcIntosh23 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Georgia, 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.