Alert archive / Georgia / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 965

November 19, 200343 counties in Georgia; 23 counties in North Carolina; 20 counties in South Carolina

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Nov 19, 2003, 2:20 AM EST for 43 counties in Georgia; 23 counties in North Carolina; 20 counties in South Carolina. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Nov 19, 2003, 2:20 AM EST (07:20 UTC)
Expired
Nov 19, 2003, 8:00 AM EST
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 86 counties

Baldwin County, GA, Banks County, GA, Barrow County, GA, Bibb County, GA, Burke County, GA, Butts County, GA, Clarke County, GA, Columbia County, GA, Elbert County, GA, Franklin County, GA, Glascock County, GA, Greene County, GA, Habersham County, GA, Hancock County, GA, Hart County, GA, Henry County, GA, Jackson County, GA, Jasper County, GA, Jefferson County, GA, Jenkins County, GA, Jones County, GA, Lamar County, GA, Lincoln County, GA, Madison 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, Stephens County, GA, Taliaferro County, GA, Upson County, GA, Walton County, GA, Warren County, GA, Washington County, GA, Wilkes County, GA, Wilkinson County, GA, Alexander County, NC, Buncombe County, NC, Burke County, NC, Cabarrus County, NC, Caldwell County, NC, Catawba County, NC, Cleveland County, NC, Davidson County, NC, Davie County, NC, Gaston County, NC, Henderson County, NC, Iredell County, NC, Jackson County, NC, Lincoln County, NC, Madison County, NC, McDowell County, NC, Mecklenburg County, NC, Polk County, NC, Rowan County, NC, Rutherford County, NC, Transylvania County, NC, Union County, NC, Yancey County, NC, Abbeville County, SC, Aiken County, SC, Anderson County, SC, Cherokee County, SC, Chester County, SC, Edgefield County, SC, Fairfield County, SC, Greenville County, SC, Greenwood County, SC, Lancaster County, SC, Laurens County, SC, Lexington County, SC, McCormick County, SC, Newberry County, SC, Oconee County, SC, Pickens County, SC, Saluda County, SC, Spartanburg County, SC, Union County, SC, York County, SC

Warnings issued inside it

10 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 19, 3:42 AM ESTTornado WarningGSPFranklin, Stephens48 min
Nov 19, 4:36 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAEColumbia, McDuffie, Richmond54 min
Nov 19, 5:54 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPSpartanburg51 min
Nov 19, 6:03 AM ESTTornado WarningGSPSpartanburg27 min
Nov 19, 6:38 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCherokee, Union37 min
Nov 19, 6:49 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCleveland41 min
Nov 19, 7:00 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPGaston, Lincoln45 min
Nov 19, 7:10 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCAELexington, Newberry50 min
Nov 19, 7:30 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPChester, York45 min
Nov 19, 7:46 AM ESTTornado WarningGSPMecklenburg44 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

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 178 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 2003-11-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 57 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 2003-11-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 298 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
57 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-58 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
754 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
67 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
298 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
336 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 190724
SEL5  
SPC WW 190720
GAZ000-NCZ000-SCZ000-191300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 965 
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
220 AM EST WED NOV 19 2003

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 

       NORTHERN AND EASTERN GEORGIA
       WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
       WESTERN AND CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA

EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY MORNING FROM 220 AM UNTIL 800 AM EST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 80 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 80 MILES SOUTH OF ATHENS GEORGIA TO 20 MILES NORTH
NORTHEAST OF HICKORY NORTH CAROLINA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.


OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 964...


DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ALONG NNE/SSW ORIENTED
CONFLUENCE AXIS IN WRN/NRN GA EXPECTED TO INTENSIFY LATER THIS
MORNING AS UPPER TROUGH NOW OVER NW MS ACCELERATES ENEWD. 
COMBINATION OF INCREASING LARGE SCALE SUPPORT WITH CONTINUED
MOIST/CONFLUENT UPSLOPE FLOW SUGGESTS POTENTIAL FOR EMBEDDED
SUPERCELLS WITH ISOLATED TORNADOES GIVEN 50+ KT DEEP SHEAR.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23035.


...CORFIDI

324,0844 355,0823 355,0794 324,0815

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 18, 7:45 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCalhoun, Chattahoochee, Clay, Early, Harris, Lamar and 17 more60 min
Nov 18, 7:46 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCalhoun, Chattahoochee, Clay, Early, Harris, Lamar and 17 more59 min
Nov 18, 9:10 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaker, Calhoun, Chattahoochee, Clay, Colquitt, Crawford and 30 more95 min
Nov 18, 10:45 PM ESTTornado WatchSPCBaker, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bleckley, Brooks, Calhoun and 40 more6 hr
Nov 19, 12:22 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaker, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bleckley, Brooks, Calhoun and 41 more83 min
Nov 19, 1:18 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaldwin, Banks, Barrow, Bibb, Butts, Clarke and 42 more57 min
Nov 19, 2:43 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaker, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bleckley, Brooks, Calhoun and 31 more92 min
Nov 19, 4:20 AM ESTTornado WatchSPCAppling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bleckley and 41 more6 hr
Nov 19, 5:14 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBurke, Columbia, Glascock, Jefferson, Lincoln, McDuffie and 3 more61 min
Nov 19, 11:29 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCHabersham, Rabun, Stephens, Towns, Union61 min
Nov 19, 6:31 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAlamance, Alexander, Alleghany, Anson, Bladen, Brunswick and 47 more119 min
Nov 19, 7:25 AM ESTTornado WatchSPCAlamance, Alexander, Alleghany, Anson, Ashe, Bladen and 48 more6 hr
Nov 19, 10:57 AM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Brunswick, Camden, Carteret, Chowan and 25 more93 min
Nov 19, 11:25 AM ESTTornado WatchSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven and 19 more6 hr
Nov 19, 2:27 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBeaufort, Bertie, Camden, Carteret, Chowan, Craven and 10 more93 min
Nov 19, 3:59 PM ESTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCamden, Currituck, Dare, Hyde, Tyrrell61 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Georgia, 2003Tornado Watches in North Carolina, 2003Tornado Watches in South Carolina, 2003Every tornado 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.