Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 147, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

July 16, 1997Cleveland County, Gaston County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 16, 1997, 4:20 PM EDT for Cleveland County, Gaston County, North Carolina. It was in force for 55 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: Jul 16, 1997, 4:20 PM EDT (20:20 UTC)
Expired: Jul 16, 1997, 5:15 PM EDT
In force: 55 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

Counties Cleveland County, NC, Gaston County, NC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:22 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
Jul 16, 4:40 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Gastonia, 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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 158 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: 1460 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -67 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1145 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 1 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -11 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -15 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGSP 162024
SVRGSP
NCC045-071-162115-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING...CORRECTION FOR COUNTY NAME
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
420 PM EDT WED JUL 16 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  515 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN WEST NORTH CAROLINA

   ...EASTERN CLEVELAND COUNTY...GASTON COUNTY

WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT 420 PM SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR THE
CLEVELAND AND GASTON COUNTY LINES...ALONG INTERSTATE 85 AND CLOSE TO
KINGS MOUNTAIN. THE STORM IS MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH AND WILL PASS
ACROSS GASTONIA BY 500 PM.

PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD BE ALERT FOR LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS. FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN CAN OCCUR
WITH ANY THUNDERSTORM.

MOYER

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 Jul 16, 2:20 PM EDT, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 16, 2:20 PM EDT, 2 hours before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE/SPARTANBURG, SC
120 PM CDT WED JUL 16 1997

DISC: GOING FCST LOOKS GOOD...

BOTH NGM/ETA INDICATED A SHORTWAVE MOVG THRU NRN MTS IN NC BTWN 12-00
TSTMS ARE FIRING UP THERE NOW.  DONT SEE MUCH ACTIVITY IN SC/GA...
20 POPS FOR THESE AREAS LOOK GOOD. HOW THETA E RIDGE OVR THIS AREA.

QUICK LOOK AT GRIDS...BEST SUPPORT FOR TSTMS WAS OVER NC MAINLY WHERE
TSTMS ARE NOW...NOT A GREAT DEAL OF SUPPORT FOR CLT AREA. SOME CAA
BTN 700 AND 500MB AND PVA IN CLT AREA.

AVL 65/86/63/88 3221
CLT 72/93/70/93 4321
GSP 70/92/68/93 2221

 PT

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 16, 3:26 PM EDT, 54 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
326 PM EDT WED JUL 16 1997

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

300 PM     LAKE LURE                 NC   WIND DAMAGE
07/16/97   RUTHERFORD                     TREES DOWNED. ALSO HAIL OF
                                          UNKNOWN SIZE. REPORTED BY
                                          COUNTY COMMS.

JZ

Local storm report, Jul 16, 3:27 PM EDT, 53 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
326 PM EDT WED JUL 16 1997

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

300 PM     LAKE LURE                 NC   WIND DAMAGE
07/16/97   RUTHERFORD                     TREES DOWNED. ALSO HAIL OF
                                          UNKNOWN SIZE. REPORTED BY
                                          COUNTY COMMS.

JZ

Local storm report, Jul 16, 3:44 PM EDT, 36 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
344 PM EDT WED JUL 16 1997

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

341 PM     EARL                      NC   .75 INCH HAIL
07/16/97   CLEVELAND                      REPORTED BY AMATEUR RADIO

JZ

Local storm report, Jul 16, 3:45 PM EDT, 35 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
344 PM EDT WED JUL 16 1997

TIME (EDT) .....CITY LOCATION....... ST   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           .....COUNTY LOCATION.>....

341 PM     EARL                      NC   .75 INCH HAIL
07/16/97   CLEVELAND                      REPORTED BY AMATEUR RADIO

JZ

Local storm report, Jul 16, 3:57 PM EDT, 23 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
357 PM EDT WED JUL 16 1997

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

355 PM     2 E SHELBY                NC   .75 INCH HAIL
07/16/97   CLEVELAND                      WIND GUSTS ESTIMATED
                                          GREATER THAN 50 MPH.
                                          REPORT FROM AMATEUR RADIO

JZ

Local storm report, Jul 16, 3:58 PM EDT, 22 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
357 PM EDT WED JUL 16 1997

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

355 PM     2 E SHELBY                NC   .75 INCH HAIL
07/16/97   CLEVELAND                      WIND GUSTS ESTIMATED
                                          GREATER THAN 50 MPH.
                                          REPORT FROM AMATEjUR RADIO

JZ

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 16, 2:04 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Alexander	41 min
Jul 16, 2:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Catawba	64 min
Jul 16, 2:35 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Henderson	25 min
Jul 16, 3:23 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Rutherford	52 min
Jul 16, 3:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Cleveland	41 min
Jul 16, 4:08 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Madison	52 min
Jul 16, 5:27 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Union	48 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North 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.