Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

May 6, 2003Abbeville County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at May 6, 2003, 2:35 PM EDT for Abbeville County, South Carolina. It was in force for 55 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 6, 2003, 2:35 PM EDT (18:35 UTC)
Expired
May 6, 2003, 3:30 PM EDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Abbeville County, SC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:39 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 6, 1:30 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 204 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 2003-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 386 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2003-05-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 191 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
386 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-36 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
521 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
64 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
191 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
264 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS52 KGSP 061835
TORGSP
SCC001-061930-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
234 PM EDT TUE MAY 6 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  ABBEVILLE COUNTY IN UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 330 PM EDT.

* AT 234 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO 4 MILES NORTHEAST OF
  ELBERTON...OR ABOUT 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LOWNDESVILLE...MOVING
  EAST AT 40 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  LOWNDESVILLE AT 240 PM EDT.
  CALHOUN FALLS AT 245 PM EDT.
  ABBEVILLE AT 300 PM EDT.

THIS STORM WILL ALSO PRODUCE HAIL TO THE SIZE OF BASEBALLS. GO TO A 
STURDY SHELTER NOW

PEOPLE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD TAKE ACTION NOW TO
PROTECT THEIR LIVES. GO TO YOUR BASEMENT...THE CENTER OF BUILDINGS...
COVER YOUR HEAD. DO NOT GO NEAR DOORS AND WINDOWS. GET OUT OF MOBILE
HOMES AND VEHICLES AND GO TO A STURDY BUILDING OR A DITCH.

LAT...LON 3402 8259 3420 8274 3437 8242 3424 8227
          3409 8229 3406 8245 3408 8249 3406 8254

$$
MOORE/MCAVOY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 5, 11:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPOconee41 min
May 6, 12:33 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPGreenville, Spartanburg42 min
May 6, 2:57 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPYork3 hr
May 6, 2:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPAnderson29 min
May 6, 3:08 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPGreenwood52 min
May 6, 3:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPLaurens, Spartanburg39 min
May 6, 3:35 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPUnion40 min
May 6, 3:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPChester53 min
May 6, 4:20 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPYork25 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.