Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 44, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

April 20, 1996Jackson County, Macon County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 20, 1996, 12:34 PM EDT for Jackson County, Macon County, North Carolina. It was in force for 41 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Apr 20, 1996, 12:34 PM EDT (16:34 UTC)
Expired: Apr 20, 1996, 1:15 PM EDT
In force: 41 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

Counties Jackson County, NC, Macon County, NC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 104 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:33 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.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 20, 1:04 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Cashiers, NC

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 234 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: 109 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -165 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 680 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 177 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 227 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Apr 20, 9:59 AM EDT, 2 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 20, 9:59 AM EDT, 2 hours 35 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
959 AM EDT SAT APR 20 1996

RAH/CAE: AT LEAST CHANCE POPS ALL AREAS. TEMPS SHUD BE OK.

DISC: LOW CLOUDS HANGING IN SOME AREAS WHILE QUICKLY ERODING IN OTHERS.
LOTS OF BREAKS IN THE MID/HIGH LEVEL CLOUDS WILL ALLOW GUD WARMING TO
OCCUR WHEN LOW CLOUDS FINALLY DISSIPATE. STRONG LINE OF TRW MOVING
ACROSS E TN ATTM. WILL BE INTERESTING TO SEE IF IT DOES THE USUAL
WEAKENING AS IT INTERACTS WITH THE HIGH MOUNTAINS. EVEN IF IT DOES
WEAKEN IT COULD PROVIDE A GUD BOUNDARY FOR CONVECTION OVER PIEDMONT...
FOOTHILLS AND EVEN UPSTATE. OUR 88D VWP SHOWS GUD SPEED SHEAR BUT
LITTLE DIRECTIONAL SHEAR. ADD TO THIS UPPER 50 AND LOWER 60 DEW POINTS
ACROSS CAROLINAS IT LOOKS LIKE ANOTHER ACTIVE DAY.

RWH

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 20, 12:27 PM EDT, 7 minutes before

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Local storm report, Apr 20, 12:31 PM EDT, 3 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
1231 PM EDT SAT APR 20 1996

TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....
1227 PM    KELLY VALLEY              NC   1.00 HAIL
04/20/96   MACON                          COUNTY 911

1227 PM    FRANKLIN                  NC   WIND DAMAGE
04/20/96   MACON                          COUNTY 911

The office that day

Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 20, 11:28 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Graham, Swain	62 min
Apr 20, 11:54 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Macon	36 min
Apr 20, 12:20 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GSP	Haywood	40 min
Apr 20, 12:55 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Buncombe, Transylvania	50 min
Apr 20, 1:19 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Henderson	41 min
Apr 20, 3:24 PM EDT	Tornado Warning	GSP	Gaston, Lincoln	36 min
Apr 20, 2:21 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Greenville	54 min
Apr 20, 2:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Spartanburg	64 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Carolina, 1996 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1996

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.