Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Wilmington, NC

May 31, 2003Marion County, South Carolina

NWS Wilmington, NC issued this tornado warning at May 31, 2003, 4:53 PM EDT for Marion County, South Carolina. It was in force for 37 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 31, 2003, 4:53 PM EDT (20:53 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 2003, 5:30 PM EDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Wilmington, NC
Area
Whole counties

County Marion County, SC

The radar

The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:53 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 31, 2:55 PM EDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 144 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 2003-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2003-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 64 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1585 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
148 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.

000 
WFUS52 KILM 312053
TORILM
SCC067-312130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
452 PM EDT SAT MAY 31 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WILMINGTON NC HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...

  MARION COUNTY IN NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 530 PM EDT

* AT 448 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A 
  THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO JUST SOUTH OF MARION ALONG  
  HIGHWAY 576 AND HIGHWAY 9...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  RAINS AND SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES AROUND 510 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 SATURDAY EVENING
FOR SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA AND NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA.

$$

SRP

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 3:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMDarlington51 min
May 31, 4:18 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMFlorence, Marlboro57 min
May 31, 4:32 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMDillon, Marion58 min
May 31, 5:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningILMHorry57 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.