Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Wilmington, NC

July 2, 2003Bladen County, Columbus County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at Jul 2, 2003, 12:11 PM EDT for Bladen County, Columbus County, North Carolina. It was in force for 49 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 2, 2003, 12:11 PM EDT (16:11 UTC)
Expired: Jul 2, 2003, 1:00 PM EDT
In force: 49 min
Issued by: NWS Wilmington, NC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Bladen County, NC, Columbus County, NC

The radar

The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:13 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
Jul 2, 8:15 AM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 4.2 hours before the alert went out and 137 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: 1421 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 199 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 341 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.

654 
WFUS52 KILM 021611
TORILM
NCC017-047-021700-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
1211 PM EDT WED JUL 2 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON NC HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

  EASTERN COLUMBUS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA
  EASTERN BLADEN COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 100 PM EDT

* AT 1207 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO OVER LAKE WACCAMAW...OR
  ABOUT 13 MILES EAST OF WHITEVILLE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
   COUNCIL AROUND 1220 PM
   EAST ARCADIA AROUND 1235 PM
   KELLY AROUND 1245 PM

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE
BUILDING IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE
BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM
WINDOWS.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY AND ASK
THEM TO RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST
OFFICE IN WILMINGTON NC.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 200 PM EDT WEDNESDAY
AFTERNOON FOR SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA.

LAT...LON 3450 7824 3446 7816 3440 7826 3436 7820
          3426 7833 3419 7845 3432 7861 3462 7828

$$

HAWKINS

The office that day

Everything else NWS Wilmington, NC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 2, 5:55 AM EDT	Special Marine Warning	ILM		80 min
Jul 2, 5:55 AM EDT	Special Marine Warning	ILM		80 min
Jul 2, 10:07 AM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	ILM	Bladen, Columbus, Robeson	4 hr
Jul 2, 1:21 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	ILM	Pender	24 min
Jul 2, 6:41 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	ILM	Bladen	64 min
Jul 2, 7:46 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	ILM	Robeson	29 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.