Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Wilmington, NC

July 2, 2003Robeson County, North Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at Jul 2, 2003, 7:46 PM EDT for Robeson County, North Carolina. It was in force for 29 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, 7:46 PM EDT (23:46 UTC)
Expired
Jul 2, 2003, 8:15 PM EDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Wilmington, NC
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Robeson County, NC

The radar

The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:46 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
Jul 2, 2:55 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 196 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 2003-07-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2322 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 2003-07-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 52 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2322 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
502 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
96 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.

677 
WFUS52 KILM 022346
TORILM
NCC155-030015-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON NC HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

  ROBESON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 815 PM EDT

* AT 741 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO OVER BARNESVILLE...OR ABOUT
  13 MILES SOUTH OF LUMBERTON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN OVER...
RURAL EASTERN ROBESON COUNTY THROUGH 800 PM. 

THE POSSIBLE TORNADO WILL CROSS HIGHWAY 74 BEFORE 800 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 800 PM EDT WEDNESDAY EVENING
FOR SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA.

LAT...LON 3441 7911 3437 7907 3449 7886 3461 7885

$$

TRA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 2, 5:55 AM EDTSpecial Marine WarningILM80 min
Jul 2, 5:55 AM EDTSpecial Marine WarningILM80 min
Jul 2, 10:07 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningILMBladen, Columbus, Robeson4 hr
Jul 2, 12:11 PM EDTTornado WarningILMBladen, Columbus49 min
Jul 2, 1:21 PM EDTTornado WarningILMPender24 min
Jul 2, 6:41 PM EDTTornado WarningILMBladen64 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North 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.