Alert archive / North Carolina / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003

Mesoscale Discussion 682

May 2, 20034 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 2, 2003, 2:23 PM EDT for 4 states. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 2, 2003, 2:23 PM EDT (18:23 UTC)
Expired: May 2, 2003, 4:30 PM EDT
In force: 2 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 42 counties

Rabun County, GA, Alexander County, NC, Avery County, NC, Buncombe County, NC, Burke County, NC, Caldwell County, NC, Catawba County, NC, Cleveland County, NC, Gaston County, NC, Haywood County, NC, Henderson County, NC, Jackson County, NC, Lincoln County, NC, Macon County, NC, Madison County, NC, McDowell County, NC, Mitchell County, NC, Polk County, NC, Rutherford County, NC, Swain County, NC, Transylvania County, NC, Watauga County, NC, Wilkes County, NC, Yancey County, NC, Anderson County, SC, Cherokee County, SC, Greenville County, SC, Laurens County, SC, Oconee County, SC, Pickens County, SC, Spartanburg County, SC, Union County, SC, Carter County, TN, Cocke County, TN, Greene County, TN, Hamblen County, TN, Hawkins County, TN, Jefferson County, TN, Johnson County, TN, Sevier County, TN, Unicoi County, TN, Washington County, TN

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 75 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:24 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, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 257 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: 66 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -126 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1115 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 49 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.

135 
ACUS11 KWNS 021823
SWOMCD
SPC MCD 021823 
NCZ000-SCZ000-TNZ000-GAZ000-022030-

MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0682
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
0123 PM CDT FRI MAY 02 2003

AREAS AFFECTED...ERN TN/WRN NC/NWRN SC

CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL 

VALID 021823Z - 022030Z

SHORT CONVECTIVE LINE CONTINUES TO MOVE EWD AND COULD STRENGTHEN
OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS. ISOLATED HAIL AND/OR DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE
POSSIBLE. WW MAY BE NECESSARY OVER THE NEXT HOUR OR SO.

NARROW AXIS OF INSTABILITY AS INCREASED OVER THE PAST HOUR AHEAD OF
A SHORT CONVECTIVE LINE MOVING ACROSS ERN TN. SBCAPE VALUES HAVE
RISEN TO 1500 J/KG WITH SFC DEWPOINTS OF 61 F AT KNOXVILLE. AS THE
CONVECTION MOVES ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS...THE ORIENTATION OF THE LINE
PERPENDICULAR TO THE UPPER-FLOW WILL MAKE SEVERE WIND GUSTS
POSSIBLE. ALSO...ISOLATED LARGE HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THE
STRONGER UPDRAFTS. WW MAY BE NECESSARY.

..BROYLES.. 05/02/2003

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

ATTN...WFO...RNK...GSP...MRX...

35208380 36098348 36508325 36478171 36298098 35188105
34278192 34558300 34898343

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 2, 2:35 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Banks, Franklin, Habersham, Hall, Hart, Rabun and 1 more	5 hr
May 2, 2:55 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Bartow, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Clayton and 23 more	5 hr
May 2, 4:25 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Clay, Quitman, Troup	4 hr
May 2, 4:40 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Columbia, Glascock, McDuffie, Richmond	5 hr
May 2, 5:43 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Baldwin, Barrow, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts, Chattahoochee and 36 more	92 min
May 2, 5:57 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Clay	93 min
May 2, 6:05 PM EDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Heard	5 hr
May 2, 6:25 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Baldwin, Barrow, Bartow, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts and 58 more	6 hr
May 2, 6:36 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Bartow, Carroll, Catoosa, Chattooga, Cherokee, Clayton and 23 more	84 min
May 2, 7:17 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Columbia, Glascock, Richmond	88 min
May 2, 4:22 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Alamance, Anson, Bladen, Cabarrus, Chatham, Cumberland and 23 more	113 min
May 2, 7:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Craven, Duplin and 11 more	3 hr
May 2, 9:52 AM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Anderson, Bledsoe, Campbell, Cannon, Cheatham, Clay and 23 more	113 min
May 2, 2:43 PM EDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Chester, Fayette, Giles, Hardeman, Hardin, Lawrence and 4 more	92 min
May 2, 3:55 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Fayette	6 hr

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in North Carolina, 2003 Mesoscale Discussions in Tennessee, 2003 Mesoscale Discussions in South Carolina, 2003 Every 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.