Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 18, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

April 21, 2003Elbert County, Georgia

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 21, 2003, 6:19 PM EDT for Elbert County, Georgia. It was in force for 41 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
Apr 21, 2003, 6:19 PM EDT (22:19 UTC)
Expired
Apr 21, 2003, 7:00 PM EDT
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Elbert County, GA

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:20 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.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 176 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2003-04-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 102 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2003-04-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 99 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
102 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-105 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
711 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
99 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
93 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

229 
WUUS52 KGSP 212219
SVRGSP
GAC105-212300-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
619 PM EDT MON APR 21 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  ELBERT COUNTY IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA

* UNTIL 700 PM EDT

* AT 619 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM 9 MILES NORTHWEST OF ELBERTON...OR ABOUT 2 MILES
  NORTHWEST OF DEWY ROSE...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  RUCKERSVILLE AT 630 PM EDT.
  MIDDLETON AT 635 PM EDT.

PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM SHOULD BE ALERT FOR
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY
RAIN CAN OCCUR WITH ANY THUNDERSTORM.

LAT...LON 3417 8295 3422 8294 3425 8290 3429 8278
          3416 8274 3407 8265 3410 8295

$$
MCAVOY

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Apr 21, 3:04 PM EDT, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 21, 3:04 PM EDT, 3 hours 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
304 PM EDT MON APR 21 2003

LEADING AREA OF SHRA AND EMBEDDED TSRA MOVING OVER UPSTATE AND NC
PIEDMONT ATTM. ATMOS BECOMING MORE UNSTABLE OVER MTNS AND SRN
SECTIONS OF CWFA. SPC HAS OUTLOOKED NC MTNS FOR CONTINUED
POSSIBILITY OF ISOLATED SVR LATE THIS AFTERNOON BEFORE FROPA. WILL
LEAVE CHC POP THERE AND GO LIKELY POP EARLY GA/SC AND NC PIEDMONT.
LOWS TONIGHT WARMER ERN SECTIONS.

AFTER SOME WRAP AROUND CLOUDS AND POSSIBLY A SPRINKLE OR TWO NRN
MTNS EARLY TUE...TRANQUIL WX PATTERN SETS UP THRU WED NITE. DRY HIGH
PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE AREA. HIGHS NEAR OR JUST BELOW NORMAL WITH
BELOW NORMAL LOWS. IN FACT...WILL NEED TO WATCH FOR FROST NC MTNS
WED NITE. LIKELY TOO MUCH WIND TUE NITE...BUT WILL NEED TO KEEP IN
MIND.

MOISTURE RETURNS THU AHEAD OF THE NEXT WX SYSTEM THAT MOVES THRU THE
AREA SATURDAY. MDLS HINTING AT POSSIBLE PRECIP LATE THU/THU NITE.
THIS IS FASTER THAN PREVIOUS RUNS. WILL FOLLOW HPC LEAD LEAVE DRY
FOR NOW...CONFINING POPS TO FRI/SAT. COOL TEMPS DURING THE PRECIP
THEN WARMING TREND SUN/MON.

FCSTID =   81
GSP   52  72  43  71 /  40   0   0   0
AND   52  72  45  72 /  40   0   0   0
CLT   54  72  45  71 /  60   0   0   0
HKY   52  69  43  69 /  30   0   0   0
AVL   48  66  39  67 /  30  10   0   0

.GSP...
GA...NONE.
NC...NONE.
SC...NONE.

RWH
Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 21, 5:54 AM EDT, 12 hours 25 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-211200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
554 AM EDT MON APR 21 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA...
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

AREAS OF DENSE FOG WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE MID MORNING ACROSS THE
AREA TO THE SOUTH OF A LINE FROM CARNESVILLE TO HARTWELL...
ANDERSON...AND CLINTON. A DENSE FOG ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL
10 AM. FOR MORE INFORMATION...SEE THE NPWGSP PRODUCT ISSUED AT 343
AM.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE REGION TODAY AHEAD OF A COLD
FRONT. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS GENERALLY TO
THE NORTH OF A LINE FROM TAYLORSVILLE TO STATESVILLE AND
SALISBURY...BUT A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ELSEWHERE
ACROSS THE REGION. FOR MORE DETAILS...SEE THE SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
(SPSGSP) ISSUED AT 430 AM.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.

MOORE

The office that day

Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 21, 5:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPElbert40 min
Apr 21, 5:57 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPElbert3 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 2003Every severe thunderstorm 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.