Alert archive / North Carolina / Mesoscale Discussions in 2003
Mesoscale Discussion 686
The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at May 2, 2003, 4:22 PM EDT for 29 counties in North Carolina; 17 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 113 min.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 2, 2003, 4:22 PM EDT (20:22 UTC)
- Expired
- May 2, 2003, 6:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 113 min
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 46 counties
Alamance County, NC, Anson County, NC, Bladen County, NC, Cabarrus County, NC, Chatham County, NC, Cumberland County, NC, Davidson County, NC, Davie County, NC, Durham County, NC, Forsyth County, NC, Guilford County, NC, Harnett County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Johnston County, NC, Lee County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Orange County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Robeson County, NC, Rockingham County, NC, Rowan County, NC, Sampson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Stokes County, NC, Union County, NC, Wake County, NC, Berkeley County, SC, Calhoun County, SC, Chesterfield County, SC, Clarendon County, SC, Darlington County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Florence County, SC, Horry County, SC, Kershaw County, SC, Lancaster County, SC, Lee County, SC, Lexington County, SC, Marion County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, Richland County, SC, Sumter County, SC, Williamsburg County, SC
The radar
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 146 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:21 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, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 135 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
263 ACUS11 KWNS 022023 SWOMCD SPC MCD 022022 NCZ000-SCZ000-022215- MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0686 NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 0322 PM CDT FRI MAY 02 2003 AREAS AFFECTED...CNTRL NC/CNTRL-NERN SC CONCERNING...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM POTENTIAL VALID 022022Z - 022215Z SEVERE CONVECTIVE LINE ACROSS WRN SC/WRN NC WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE EWD OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS. WIND DAMAGE AND ISOLATED HAIL WILL BE PROBABLE AS THE STORMS MOVE INTO THE LOWER TERRAIN EARLY THIS EVENING. A NEW WW WILL LIKELY BE ISSUED WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR. LARGE-SCALE FORCING WITH VORT MAX EVIDENT ON WV ACROSS THE APPALACHIANS WILL CONTINUE TO SUSTAIN A SEVERE CONVECTIVE LINE AS IT MOVES EWD. THE LINE WILL MOVE INTO THE LOWER ELEVATIONS WHERE MLCAPE VALUES WERE 1500-2000 J/KG. LOW-LEVEL JET OVER WRN SC AND MID-LEVEL JET OVER SRN TN HAD INCREASED DEEP LAYER SHEAR BEHIND THE LINE OVER THE LAST SEVERAL HOURS. AS A RESULT...THE LINE SHOULD CONTINUE TO REMAIN ORGANIZED AS IT MOVES EWD INTO THE LOWER ELEVATIONS. DAMAGING WIND GUSTS AND ISOLATED HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THE LINE. WW WILL LIKELY BE ISSUED WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR. ..BROYLES.. 05/02/2003 ...PLEASE SEE WWW.SPC.NOAA.GOV FOR GRAPHIC PRODUCT... ATTN...WFO...RAH...ILM...RNK...CHS...CAE...GSP... 33788131 34628104 36008054 36498031 36327900 35977814 35467810 34487855 33627912 33078001
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 2:23 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alexander, Avery, Buncombe, Burke, Caldwell, Catawba and 17 more | 2 hr |
| May 2, 2:35 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Alexander, Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Burke and 21 more | 5 hr |
| May 2, 2:55 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Swain | 5 hr |
| May 2, 4:40 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Alamance, Anson, Cabarrus, Chatham, Cumberland, Davidson and 22 more | 5 hr |
| May 2, 6:36 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cherokee, Clay, Graham | 84 min |
| May 2, 7:17 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Anson, Cabarrus, Chatham, Cumberland, Davidson and 21 more | 88 min |
| May 2, 7:45 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Beaufort, Bladen, Brunswick, Columbus, Craven, Duplin and 11 more | 3 hr |
| May 2, 5:43 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | McCormick | 92 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.