Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Wilmington, NC

July 2, 2003Bladen County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at Jul 2, 2003, 6:41 PM EDT for Bladen County, North Carolina. It was in force for 64 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, 6:41 PM EDT (22:41 UTC)
Expired: Jul 2, 2003, 7:45 PM EDT
In force: 64 min
Issued by: NWS Wilmington, NC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Bladen County, NC

The radar

The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 67 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:41 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, 2:55 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Newport, NC (KMHX), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 160 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.

364 
WFUS52 KILM 022241
TORILM
NCC017-022345-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON NC HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

  BLADEN COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 745 PM EDT

* AT 636 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO OVER CLARKTON...OR ABOUT 8
  MILES SOUTHWEST OF ELIZABETHTOWN...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
   ELIZABETHTOWN AROUND 655 PM
   WHITE LAKE AROUND 710 PM
   BAY TREE LAKE AROUND 725 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.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

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.

LAT...LON 3453 7881 3441 7865 3458 7829 3481 7848

$$

JAQ

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, 12:11 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	ILM	Bladen, Columbus	49 min
Jul 2, 1:21 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	ILM	Pender	24 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.