Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

May 31, 2003Union County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at May 31, 2003, 4:29 PM EDT for Union County, North Carolina. It was in force for 31 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 31, 2003, 4:29 PM EDT (20:29 UTC)
Expired: May 31, 2003, 5:00 PM EDT
In force: 31 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Union County, NC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 151 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:30 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 31, 2:05 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 116 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1484 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 157 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 166 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.

667 
WFUS52 KGSP 312029
TORGSP
NCC179-312100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
429 PM EDT SAT MAY 31 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHEASTERN UNION COUNTY IN THE PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 500 PM EDT.

* AT 428 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO 14 MILES NORTHEAST OF
  MONROE...OR ABOUT OVER NEW SALEM...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 50 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL AFFECT AREAS NEAR NEW SALEM. 
  
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. PEOPLE IN AND AROUND NEW SALEM AND OLIVE 
BRANCH SHOULD TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY. 

LAT...LON 3525 8038 3509 8050 3477 7991 3496 7976

$$

LANE

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 31, 1:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Union	26 min
May 31, 3:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Lincoln, Mecklenburg	49 min
May 31, 3:44 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Cabarrus	46 min
May 31, 4:12 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Union	48 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 2003 Every tornado warning in 2003 Tornadoes 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.