Alert archive / North Carolina / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003
Mesoscale Discussion 2013
The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Jul 29, 2003, 2:14 PM EDT for 36 counties in North Carolina; 11 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 2 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jul 29, 2003, 2:14 PM EDT (18:14 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 29, 2003, 4:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 2 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 47 counties
Alamance County, NC, Alexander County, NC, Anson County, NC, Buncombe County, NC, Burke County, NC, Cabarrus County, NC, Caldwell County, NC, Catawba County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Cleveland County, NC, Davidson County, NC, Davie County, NC, Durham County, NC, Forsyth County, NC, Gaston County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Henderson County, NC, Iredell County, NC, Lee County, NC, Lincoln County, NC, McDowell County, NC, Mecklenburg County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Orange County, NC, Polk County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Rowan County, NC, Rutherford County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Transylvania County, NC, Union County, NC, Wilkes County, NC, Yadkin County, NC, Yancey County, NC, Cherokee County, SC, Chester County, SC, Chesterfield County, SC, Greenville County, SC, Lancaster County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, Oconee County, SC, Pickens County, SC, Spartanburg County, SC, Union County, SC, York County, SC
The radar
The Greer radar (KGSP), 130 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:14 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 watches that followed
Watches SPC issued over any of the same counties within four hours of this discussion.
The nearest sounding before it
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 6.2 hours before the alert went out and 124 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 681 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -58 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1045 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 32 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -3 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 54 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 0.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
040 ACUS11 KWNS 291814 SWOMCD SPC MCD 291814 NCZ000-SCZ000-GAZ000-292015- MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 2013 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 0114 PM CDT TUE JUL 29 2003 AREAS AFFECTED...MUCH OF WRN NC...NWRN SC...EXTREME NERN GA CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL VALID 291814Z - 292015Z A FEW SEVERE STORMS APPEAR LIKELY OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS. WILL MONITOR FOR POSSIBLE ORGANIZATION AND WW. LATEST SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS CONVECTIVELY INDUCED MESOSCALE VORTEX...OR MCV...MOVING EWD ALONG THE GA/TN BORDER. AT THE SURFACE...A LOW HAS FORMED FURTHER E JUST NE OF GREENVILLE SC. STRONG INSTABILITY EXISTS OVER ERN GA AND SC...AND CONTINUES TO DESTABILIZE IN THE VICINITY OF THE SURFACE LOW. STORMS WILL CONTINUE TO INCREASE OVER WRN NC. THE APPROACHING MCV MAY PROVIDE ENHANCED SHEAR AND A FOCUS FOR ORGANIZED SEVERE STORMS. OVERALL SHEAR PROFILES ARE MARGINAL FOR SUPERCELLS WITH 20-30 KTS OF WLY FLOW ALOFT. HOWEVER...GSP VWP SHOWS GOOD VEERING IN THE LOWEST 3 KM. ALTHOUGH IT APPEARS THE MAIN THREAT WITH THESE STORMS WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS AND PERHAPS SOME HAIL...ENHANCED SURFACE VORTICITY NEAR THE LOW ALONG WITH 0-3 KM CAPE VALUES OF 100-200 J/KG SUGGEST A SHORT LIVED TORNADO WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGEST STORMS. ..JEWELL.. 07/29/2003 ...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT... ATTN...WFO...RAH...ILM...RNK...CAE...GSP... 34497972 34568335 35718273 36438111 36097865
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 29, 3:00 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Alexander, Anson, Bladen, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell and 31 more | 6 hr |
| Jul 29, 4:51 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Anson, Cabarrus, Catawba, Chatham, Cleveland and 30 more | 114 min |
| Jul 29, 7:42 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anson, Beaufort, Bladen, Chatham, Columbus, Craven and 25 more | 93 min |
Nearby
Mesoscale Discussions in North Carolina, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in South Carolina, 2003Every mesoscale discussion 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.