Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2003
Severe Thunderstorm Watch 225
The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 3, 2003, 6:40 PM EDT for 4 counties in Georgia; 13 counties in North Carolina; 34 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 4 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 3, 2003, 6:40 PM EDT (22:40 UTC)
- Expired
- May 3, 2003, 11:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 4 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 51 counties
Burke County, GA, Columbia County, GA, Lincoln County, GA, Richmond County, GA, Anson County, NC, Cabarrus County, NC, Gaston County, NC, Hoke County, NC, Mecklenburg County, NC, Montgomery County, NC, Moore County, NC, Randolph County, NC, Richmond County, NC, Robeson County, NC, Scotland County, NC, Stanly County, NC, Union County, NC, Abbeville County, SC, Aiken County, SC, Anderson County, SC, Barnwell County, SC, Calhoun County, SC, Cherokee County, SC, Chester County, SC, Chesterfield County, SC, Clarendon County, SC, Darlington County, SC, Dillon County, SC, Edgefield County, SC, Fairfield County, SC, Florence County, SC, Greenville County, SC, Greenwood County, SC, Horry County, SC, Kershaw County, SC, Lancaster County, SC, Laurens County, SC, Lee County, SC, Lexington County, SC, Marion County, SC, Marlboro County, SC, McCormick County, SC, Newberry County, SC, Orangeburg County, SC, Richland County, SC, Saluda County, SC, Spartanburg County, SC, Sumter County, SC, Union County, SC, Williamsburg County, SC, York County, SC
The radar
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 57 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:40 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.
Warnings issued inside it
26 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 3, 6:40 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Scotland | 35 min |
| May 3, 6:52 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Stanly | 23 min |
| May 3, 7:00 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Montgomery | 45 min |
| May 3, 7:03 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Cabarrus | 57 min |
| May 3, 7:10 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Robeson | 65 min |
| May 3, 7:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Scotland | 30 min |
| May 3, 7:34 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Stanly | 41 min |
| May 3, 7:39 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Richmond | 51 min |
| May 3, 7:56 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Anson | 49 min |
| May 3, 8:08 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Robeson | 37 min |
| May 3, 8:10 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | RAH | Richmond | 35 min |
| May 3, 8:12 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Mecklenburg | 63 min |
| May 3, 8:20 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILM | Robeson | 25 min |
| May 3, 8:33 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Scotland | 57 min |
| May 3, 8:49 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Richmond | 26 min |
| May 3, 8:56 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Robeson | 49 min |
| May 3, 9:08 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Marlboro | 82 min |
| May 3, 9:14 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Richmond | 31 min |
| May 3, 9:28 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RAH | Hoke, Scotland | 47 min |
| May 3, 9:46 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Robeson | 74 min |
| May 3, 10:00 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Dillon | 45 min |
| May 3, 10:25 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | York | 50 min |
| May 3, 10:29 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Chester | 46 min |
| May 3, 10:41 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILM | Dillon | 59 min |
| May 3, 10:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CAE | Lancaster | 46 min |
| May 3, 10:49 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | GSP | Chester | 41 min |
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
The nearest sounding before it
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 216 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
- 3 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -94 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1075 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 29 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -29 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 141 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.2
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 9:18 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Baldwin, Barrow, Bartow, Bibb, Bleckley, Butts and 59 more | 87 min |
| May 2, 11:10 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Brantley and 18 more | 3 hr |
| May 3, 9:45 AM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Decatur, Seminole | 2 hr |
| May 3, 2:57 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Franklin, Habersham, Hart, Rabun, Stephens, Towns and 2 more | 3 hr |
| May 3, 3:20 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Alexander, Alleghany, Anson, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe and 31 more | 5 hr |
| May 3, 6:15 PM EDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Alamance, Alexander, Anson, Burke, Cabarrus, Caldwell and 34 more | 2 hr |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Watches in South Carolina, 2003Severe Thunderstorm Watches in North Carolina, 2003Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Georgia, 2003Every severe thunderstorm watch 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.