Alert archive / Georgia / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003

Mesoscale Discussion 2178

August 18, 200338 counties in Georgia; Columbus County, North Carolina; 23 counties in South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Aug 18, 2003, 1:19 PM EDT for 38 counties in Georgia; Columbus County, North Carolina; 23 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 116 min.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 18, 2003, 1:19 PM EDT (17:19 UTC)
Expired
Aug 18, 2003, 3:15 PM EDT
In force
116 min
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 62 counties

Baldwin County, GA, Barrow County, GA, Burke County, GA, Butts County, GA, Clarke County, GA, Clayton County, GA, Cobb County, GA, Columbia County, GA, DeKalb County, GA, Fayette County, GA, Fulton County, GA, Glascock County, GA, Greene County, GA, Gwinnett County, GA, Hancock County, GA, Henry County, GA, Jasper County, GA, Jefferson County, GA, Jones County, GA, Lamar County, GA, Lincoln County, GA, McDuffie County, GA, Monroe County, GA, Morgan County, GA, Newton County, GA, Oconee County, GA, Oglethorpe County, GA, Pike County, GA, Putnam County, GA, Richmond County, GA, Rockdale County, GA, Spalding County, GA, Taliaferro County, GA, Upson County, GA, Walton County, GA, Warren County, GA, Washington County, GA, Wilkes County, GA, Columbus County, NC, Aiken County, SC, Allendale County, SC, Bamberg County, SC, Barnwell County, SC, Berkeley County, SC, Calhoun County, SC, Clarendon County, SC, Darlington County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Dorchester County, SC, Edgefield County, SC, Florence County, SC, Georgetown County, SC, Horry County, SC, Lee County, SC, Lexington County, SC, Marion County, SC, McCormick County, SC, Orangeburg County, SC, Richland County, SC, Saluda County, SC, Sumter County, SC, Williamsburg County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 17 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:19 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 nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 140 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 2003-08-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1565 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 2003-08-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 0 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1565 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
826 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
0 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
0 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
0 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.

926 
ACUS11 KWNS 181719
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 181719 
NCZ000-SCZ000-GAZ000-181915-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 2178
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1219 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2003

AREAS AFFECTED...SC WWD ACROSS NRN/CNTRL GA

CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL 

VALID 181719Z - 181915Z

DEVELOPING TSTMS WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE ISOLATED
DAMAGING WIND GUSTS THIS AFTERNOON. A WW IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

AS OF 17Z...VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGERY AND REGIONAL RADAR MOSAIC
INDICATED TSTMS BEGINNING TO DEVELOP OVER PORTIONS OF ERN SC WWD
ACROSS NRN GA. LATEST MESOANALYSIS AND DEVELOPING CU FIELD ON
VISIBLE SATELLITE SUGGEST THESE STORMS ARE DEVELOPING ALONG A WEAK
E-W FRONTAL BOUNDARY THAT EXTENDS FROM ERN SC /N OF CRE/ WWD TO NEAR
ATL. VERY MOIST BOUNDARY-LAYER CONDITIONS /I.E. 70-75F DEWPOINTS /
ALONG AND S OF THIS BOUNDARY ARE CONTRIBUTING TO A MODERATELY
UNSTABLE AIRMASS EARLY THIS AFTERNOON WITH MLCAPES ALREADY
APPROACHING 2000-2500 J/KG.

LOW-LEVEL CONVERGENCE ALONG THIS BOUNDARY AND OUTFLOW BOUNDARY
INTERACTIONS SHOULD ALLOW TSTMS TO INCREASE IN COVERAGE THROUGH THE
AFTERNOON ACROSS THE MESOSCALE DISCUSSION AREA. ALTHOUGH REGIONAL
VWPS INDICATE WEAK WIND SHEAR...THE DEGREE OF INSTABILITY AND
AVAILABILITY OF DRY MID-LEVEL AIR /PER WATER VAPOR IMAGERY/ SUGGEST
THE POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS WITH THE STRONGEST
CELLS.

..MEAD.. 08/18/2003

...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT...

ATTN...WFO...ILM...CHS...CAE...GSP...FFC...

34238062 34557880 33827808 33057983 32838450 34008482

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Georgia, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in South Carolina, 2003Mesoscale Discussions in North 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.