Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 14, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

February 21, 1997Cherokee County, Union County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 21, 1997, 4:44 PM EST for Cherokee County, Union County, South Carolina. It was in force for 46 min. 3 reports 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: Feb 21, 1997, 4:44 PM EST (21:44 UTC)
Expired: Feb 21, 1997, 5:30 PM EST
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

Counties Cherokee County, SC, Union County, SC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 55 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:46 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
Feb 21, 4:52 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Jonesville, SC
Feb 21, 4:55 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Gaffney, SC
Feb 21, 5:05 PM EST	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Union, SC

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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Feb 21, 3:00 PM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 206 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 527 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 164 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 Feb 21, 1:18 PM EST, 3 hours 26 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 21, 1:18 PM EST, 3 hours 26 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
115 PM EST FRI FEB 21 1997

CAE: MENTION GUSTY WINDS WITH STORMS TONIGHT.  AM POPS FOR SAT.
RAH: KEEP WINDS UP IN MTNS TONIGHT.  CAN PROBABLY BUMP UP POPS
      MOST AREAS TONIGHT.  AM POPS FAR WEST...TAPERING TO EAST.
FFC: MENTION GUSTY WINDS WITH STORMS TONIGHT.
      JUST AM POPS FOR SATURDAY.

UPPER LOW CONTS TO ZIP NE INTO UPPER MIDWEST...ABSORBING INTO POS
TILTED TROF & ATTM...BEST DYNAMICS REMAIN WELL NW OF FA.  BY
12Z SAT...SECOND VORT MOVG UP FRONT SIDE OF TROF IN MIDDLE TENN
WILL SWING CD FNT ACRS CWA EARLY SAT WITH PROGRESSIVE DRYING THRU
DAY...SETTING US UP FOR A COOL & DRY SECOND 1/2 OF THE WEEKEND.

IN THE SHORT TERM...ACTIVITY ACRS ERN TENN ON GRADL WEAKENING TREND
AS UPPER SUPPORT SHIFTS NE.  HOWEVER...STG GRADIENT WINDS MAY SUPPORT
SOME MARGINAL SVR IN FAR WESTERN NC MTN CTYS.  FOR THIS EVENING...
STORMS FIRING IN BETTER INSTABILITY IN WRN GA ARE MORE OF A CONCERN
AS LOW-LVL SOUTHERLY FLOW CONTS TO PROVIDE GOOD MOISTURE TRANSPORT &
NEG LI'S...ESP IN SOUTHERN SXNS OF FA.  IN ADDITION...WITH PW'S IN
EXCESS OF 200% OF NORM...IF EASTWARD PROGRESS OF PCPN CONTS TO
SLOW MAY LINGER IN MY VCNTY TONIGHT LEADING TO LCLLY HVY RNFL AMTS.

GSP  55/62/30/53  8400
AVL  52/55/26/47  8300
CLT  57/63/32/52  6700

CSH

In the hours before

Local storm report, Feb 21, 3:40 PM EST, 1 hour 4 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
339 PM EST FRI FEB 21 1997

TIME (EST) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

330 PM     5 NW CARNESVILLE          GA   WIND DAMAGE
02/21/97   FRANKLIN                       SEVERAL TREES DOWNED IN
                                          NORTHWEST FRANKLIN COUNTY.

JZ

Local storm report, Feb 21, 3:59 PM EST, 45 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
352 PM EST FRI FEB 21 1997

TIME (EST) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

330 PM     NEAR WALHALLA             SC   WIND DAMAGE
02/21/97   OCONEE                         TREES DOWN AND MOBILE
                                          HOMES DAMAGED. POSSIBLE
                                          TORNADO. REPORTED BY
                                          COUNTY COMMS.

345 PM     NEAR HIGHLANDS            NC   WIND DAMAGE
02/21/97   MACON                          TREES DOWN NEAR HIGHLANDS
                                          REPORTED BY COUNTY COMMS.

345 PM     NORRIS                    SC   WIND DAMAGE
02/21/97   PICKENS                        TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN
                                          IN NORRIS REPORTED BY

                                          COUNTY C.OMMS.

BWM

Local storm report, Feb 21, 4:22 PM EST, 22 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
422 PM EST FRI FEB 21 1997

TIME (EST) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

410 PM     ETOWAH                    NC   WIND DAMAGE
02/21/97   HENDERSON                      COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS
                                          REPORTED TREES AND POWER
                                          LINES DOWN IN ETOWAH.

418 PM     FLETCHER                  NC   WIND DAMAGE
02/21/97   HENDERSON                      POWER LINES DOWN REPORTED
                                          BY COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS

BWM

Local storm report, Feb 21, 4:26 PM EST, 18 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
422 PM EST FRI FEB 21 1997

TIME (EST) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

410 PM     ETOWAH                    NC   WIND DAMAGE
02/21/97   HENDERSON                      COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS
                                          REPORTED TREES AND POWER
                                          LINES DOWN IN ETOWAH.

418 PM     FLETCHER                  NC   WIND DAMAGE
02/21/97   HENDERSON                      POWER LINES DOWN REPORTED
                                          BY COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS

BWM

Local storm report, Feb 21, 4:34 PM EST, 10 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
434 PM EST FRI FEB 21 1997

TIME (EST) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

425 PM     5 S GREENWOOD             SC   0.75 INCH HAIL
02/21/97   GREENWOOD                      DIME SIZE HAIL ON HWY 25
                                          REPORTED BY COUNTY COMMS.

BWM

Local storm report, Feb 21, 4:37 PM EST, 7 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
434 PM EST FRI FEB 21 1997

TIME (EST) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.....

425 PM     5 S GREENWOOD             SC   0.75 INCH HAIL
02/21/97   GREENWOOD                      DIME SIZE HAIL ON HWY 25
                                          REPORTED BY COUNTY COMMS.

BWM

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Feb 21, 4:06 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Henderson	39 min
Feb 21, 4:58 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Cleveland	32 min
Feb 21, 5:06 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Gaston	39 min
Feb 21, 5:10 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Catawba, Lincoln	35 min
Feb 21, 5:25 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Iredell, Mecklenburg	35 min
Feb 21, 5:38 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Cabarrus, Union	37 min
Feb 21, 6:18 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Union	12 min
Feb 21, 3:14 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Oconee	46 min
Feb 21, 3:44 PM EST	Tornado Warning	GSP	Pickens	46 min
Feb 21, 3:49 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Anderson	41 min
Feb 21, 4:10 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Greenville	35 min
Feb 21, 4:30 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Greenwood	30 min
Feb 21, 4:38 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Laurens, Spartanburg	37 min
Feb 21, 5:06 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Chester	39 min
Feb 21, 2:51 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Habersham, Stephens	39 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 1997 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1997

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.