Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

May 3, 2003Chester County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at May 3, 2003, 10:49 PM EDT for Chester County, South Carolina. 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
May 3, 2003, 10:49 PM EDT (02:49 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 2003, 11:30 PM EDT
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Chester County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 85 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:49 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
May 3, 6:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 179 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 2003-05-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 280 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 2003-05-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 171 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
280 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-82 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
859 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
171 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
274 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

709 
WFUS52 KGSP 040249
TORGSP
SCC023-040330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1049 PM EDT SAT MAY 3 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN CHESTER COUNTY IN UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 1130 PM EDT.

* AT 1038 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO 11 MILES WEST OF
  LANCASTER...OR ABOUT 4 MILES SOUTHEAST OF EDGEMOOR...MOVING
  SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  RICHBURG AT 1040 PM EDT.
  FORT LAWN AT 1050 PM EDT.
  GREAT FALLS AT 1110 PM EDT.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IN A HOME OR
BUSINESS IS AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. STAY AWAY
FROM DOORS AND WINDOWS.

LAT...LON 3489 8091 3480 8110 3437 8087 3448 8061

$$

JONES/LANE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 10:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPYork50 min
May 3, 10:29 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPChester46 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.