Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 221, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

July 13, 2003Rabun County, Georgia

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 13, 2003, 2:22 PM EDT for Rabun County, Georgia. It was in force for 38 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 13, 2003, 2:22 PM EDT (18:22 UTC)
Expired: Jul 13, 2003, 3:00 PM EDT
In force: 38 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Rabun County, GA

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:22 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, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 214 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: 1654 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -41 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 744 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 25 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 8 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS52 KGSP 131822
SVRGSP
GAC241-131900-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
221 PM EDT SUN JUL 13 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NORTHEASTERN RABUN COUNTY IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA

* UNTIL 300 PM EDT

* AT 221 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF WALHALLA...OR ABOUT 3 MILES
  NORTHEAST OF PINE MOUNTAIN...MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR

  PINE MOUNTAIN AT 230 PM

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 3500 8325 3500 8311 3498 8310 3494 8312
          3488 8321 3488 8326

$$
07

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 Jul 13, 8:56 AM EDT, 5 hours 26 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 13, 8:56 AM EDT, 5 hours 26 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
856 AM EDT SUN JUL 13 2003

EARLY UPDATE TO INCREASE POPS THIS MORNING TO CHANCE. RADAR SHOWS
CONVECTION FIRING ALONG BOUNDARY IN SMOKY MOUNTAINS. EARLIER
ACTIVITY FIZZLED IN UPPER SAVANNAH RIVER VALLEY. INCREASED CLOUDS
TODAY AND LOWERED MAX T ONE DEGREE. UPDATED TEMP/DEW POINT AND WIND
FIELDS TO REFLECT CURRENT OBS AND LATEST PROGS.

FCSTID =    7
GSP   85  67  87  68 /  50  60  30  30
AND   85  68  87  69 /  50  60  30  30
CLT   86  67  87  68 /  50  60  50  50
HKY   83  66  84  67 /  50  60  40  40
AVL   80  62  81  63 /  50  60  30  30

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

O7

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 13, 4:50 AM EDT, 9 hours 32 minutes before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-131100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
450 AM EDT SUN JUL 13 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AND ORGANIZE
ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA IN RESPONSE TO AN UPPER LEVEL TROF MOVING
EAST TOWARD THE SOUTHEAST U.S.. SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD PRODUCE
DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS AND LARGE HAIL.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

SCATTERD...MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
WILL BE POSSIBLE MOST DAYS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.

RB

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 13, 9:52 AM EDT, 4 hours 30 minutes before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-132000-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
952 AM EDT SUN JUL 13 2003

...SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP BY THIS AFTERNOON.
SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE...PRODUCING DAMAGING
WIND AND LARGE HAIL. IN ADDITION...THESE STORMS COULD PRODUCE VERY
HEAVY RAINFALL...AND FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. THE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING.

SPOTTER GROUPS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO ACTIVATE QUICKLY LATE THIS
AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. DISPATCHERS SHOULD ENSURE COUNTY
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS ARE AWARE OF THIS INFORMATION.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA OUTLET FOR
THE LATEST UPDATES CONCERNING THIS POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER
SITUATION.

07

Local storm report, Jul 13, 1:58 PM EDT, 24 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
158 PM EDT SUN JUL 13 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

138 PM     2 S FRANKLIN              NC   .88 INCH HAIL
07/13/03   MACON                          SPOTTER REPORTED NICKEL
                                          SIZED HAIL ACCUMULATING
                                          ON DECK. ESTIMATED WIND
                                          GUSTS TO 60 MPH.

128 PM     5 SE MONROE               NC   FLOODING
07/13/03   UNION                          UNION EOC REPORTED HWY
                                          601 SOUTH COVERED BY 6 TO
                                          8 INCHES OF FLOWING
                                          WATER...MAY BE CLOSED
                                          SOON.

JRL

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 13, 2:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Habersham	41 min
Jul 13, 5:04 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Franklin	41 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 2003 Every 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.