Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Charleston, SC

March 20, 2003Bryan County, Georgia

NWS Charleston, SC issued this tornado warning at Mar 20, 2003, 2:28 PM EST for Bryan County, Georgia. It was in force for 32 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, 2:28 PM EST (19:28 UTC)
Expired
Mar 20, 2003, 3:00 PM EST
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Charleston, SC
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Bryan County, GA

The radar

The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:30 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, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 160 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 201928
TORCHS
GAC029-202000-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  BRYAN COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST GEORGIA...
  
* UNTIL 300 PM EST

* AT 227 PM EST...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF   
  PRODUCING A TORNADO 3 MILES WEST OF RICHMOND HILL...MOVING EAST    
  AND SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  RICHMOND HILL...
  BELFAST...
  LIMERICK...

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.

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 3202 8141 3190 8149 3175 8117 3182 8107

$$

PM

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, 2:02 PM ESTTornado WarningCHSLiberty28 min
Mar 20, 2:14 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSBryan31 min
Mar 20, 2:22 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCHSLong38 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.