Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2000

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 167, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

August 18, 2000Mecklenburg County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 18, 2000, 5:21 PM EDT for Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. It was in force for 54 min. 2 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: Aug 18, 2000, 5:21 PM EDT (21:21 UTC)
Expired: Aug 18, 2000, 6:15 PM EDT
In force: 54 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Mecklenburg County, NC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 133 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:21 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
Aug 18, 5:30 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 75 E	Charlotte, NC	A large swath of wind damage occurred from Ericsson Stadium to the east side of Charlotte. A trained spotter estimated the wind speed to be 90 mph at Dillworth Square. Other estimates were reported of between 75 and 100 mph. There were numerous trees and power
Aug 18, 6:00 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Charlotte, NC	Several trees were blown down on Providence Road.

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
Aug 18, 2:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 125 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: 1062 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -144 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1066 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 166 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 192 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 5.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

415 
WUUS52 KGSP 182121
SVRGSP
NCC119-182215-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
521 PM EDT FRI AUG 18 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  MECKLENBURG COUNTY IN THE PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 615 PM EDT

* AT 521 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM WITH DAMAGING WINDS 11 MILES NORTHEAST OF GASTONIA...
  OR ABOUT 7 MILES NORTHWEST OF PAW CREEK...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  PAW CREEK AT 525 PM EDT
  CROFT AT 535 PM EDT
  CHARLOTTE AT 540 PM EDT
  NEWELL AT 550 PM EDT
  MATTHEWS AT 600 PM EDT

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WINDS CAN REACH SPEEDS OF 60 TO 100 MPH. THESE
WINDS BLOW DOWN TREES...POWER LINES...AND SEVERELY DAMAGE MOBILE
HOMES AND SOMETIMES BUILDINGS. VERY LARGE OR WIND-DRIVEN HAIL CAN
INJURE ANYONE CAUGHT OUTSIDE.

$$
BWM/RB

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 Aug 18, 1:55 PM EDT, 3 hours 26 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 18, 1:55 PM EDT, 3 hours 26 minutes before

SCZ001>014-019-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-GAZ010-017-018-026-028-
029-190023-

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
155 PM EDT FRI AUG 18 2000

MAIN CONCERN IS FOR SEVERE WEATHER THIS EVENING. OLD OUTFLOW HAS
LEFT A BOUNDARY SOUTH OF LINE FROM HKY TO RUQ AND NORTH OF CLT.
TEMPS SOUTH OF THAT LINE UNDER BASICALLY A CLOUDLESS SKY HAVE RISEN
INTO THE MID AND UPR 90S WITH CAPES OVER 4000 J/KG ALONG
SOUTHEASTERN COUNTIES. LEE TROUGH IN PLACE IN THE FOOTHILLS...SO WE
AWAIT THE ARRIVAL OF MID/UPR SUPPORT WHICH APPEARS TO BE COMING
THROUGH E TN ATTM. JUST GOT WORD THAT MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE
PLACED UNDER A WATCH WITH DAMAGING WIND THE MAIN THREAT...SO ENOUGH SAID.
WILL TAPER POPS FROM CHC IN MTNS TO LIKELY SOUTH AND EAST FOR THIS
EVENING.

COLD FRONT TO MOVE SOUTHEAST THROUGH THE AREA LATER TONIGHT AND
STALL ACROSS CENT GULF COAST STATES. SLIGHTLY COOLER AND DRIER
NORTHEAST TO EAST FLOW SHOULD RESULT IN A PLEASANT DAY FOR MOST
AREAS SATURDAY. ETA SHOWS A BLOW UP OF CONVECTION IN THE UPSTATE
SATURDAY AFTN IN RESPONSE TO SOME LOW-LEVEL CONVERGENCE. BUT THERE
IS NO UPPER SUPPORT SO WILL DISCOUNT AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...ON
SUNDAY INVERTED TROUGH AXIS FOCUSES CONVERGENCE OVER MTNS AHEAD OF
WEAK SHORTWAVE DROPPING SOUTHEAST IN THE NORTHWEST FLOW. SOUTHEAST
LOW-LEVEL FLOW INTO THE MTNS MAY HELP TO SUPPORT CONVECTION AS WELL.
WILL INCLUDE A SMALL CHC FOR THE NC MTNS FOR SUNDAY AND LEAVE
ADJACENT MTN AND FOOTHILL ZONES IN THE UNMENTIONABLE SLIGHT CHC
CATEGORY FOR THE TIME BEING. TEMPS SHOULD REMAIN AT OR BELOW NORMAL
THROUGH SHORT RANGE.

IN THE EXTENDED...HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT IS BASICALLY IN CONTROL OF
ENTIRE SOUTHERN U.S. A COLD FRONT DOES MOVE INTO THE AREA WEDNESDAY
SO WILL PUT IN A CHC POPS IN THE MTNS AND NC FOOTHILLS.

PRELIMINARY CCF...KEEP IN MIND POPS FOR FIRST PERIOD WILL BE HIGHER
THAN SHOWN BELOW.

FCSTID = 26
GSP   71  90  68  88 /  30  20  10  20
AND   70  91  67  89 /  40  20  10  20
CLT   68  88  66  86 /  50  10   0   0
HKY   67  87  65  85 /  30  10   0  10
AVL   65  85  62  82 /  30  20  20  30

.GSP...
GA...NONE.
NC...NONE.
SC...NONE.

MOYER

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 18, 4:39 PM EDT, 42 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
439 PM EDT FRI AUG 18 2000

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

420 PM     8 S MOCKSVILLE            NC   WIND DAMAGE
08/18/00   DAVIE                          TREES DOWN AND QUARTER
                                          SIZE HAIL. SPOTTER REPORT

LGL

Local storm report, Aug 18, 4:42 PM EDT, 39 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
442 PM EDT FRI AUG 18 2000

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

435 PM     15 W LINCOLNTON           NC   WIND DAMAGE
08/18/00   LINCOLN                        POWER LINES DOWN. HOUSE
                                          DAMAGED. REPORT FROM
                                          COUNTY DISPATCH.

LGL

Local storm report, Aug 18, 4:55 PM EDT, 26 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
455 PM EDT FRI AUG 18 2000

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

330 PM     10 SE SHELBY              NC   1.50 INCH HAIL
08/18/00   CLEVELAND                      COUNTY EOC REPORT.

JAT

Local storm report, Aug 18, 4:56 PM EDT, 25 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
456 PM EDT FRI AUG 18 2000

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

455 PM     LINCOLNTON                NC   WIND DAMAGE
08/18/00   LINCOLN                        MOBILE HOME BLOWN OVER IN
                                          WEST LINCOLNTON. MULTIPLE
                                          TREES DOWN. REPORT FROM
                                          LINCOLN COUNTY EOC.

LGL

Local storm report, Aug 18, 5:15 PM EDT, 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
515 PM EDT FRI AUG 18 2000

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

505 PM     4 ENE SPARTANBURG         SC   WIND DAMAGE
08/18/00   SPARTANBURG                    FOUR TREES BLOWN DOWN.
                                          SPOTTER REPORT.

LGL

Local storm report, Aug 18, 5:19 PM EDT, 2 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
519 PM EDT FRI AUG 18 2000

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

435 PM     8 N SALISBURY             NC   WIND DAMAGE
08/18/00   ROWAN                          SPOTTER REPORTED TREES
                                          DOWN.

JAT

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 18, 2:56 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Iredell	34 min
Aug 18, 3:10 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Davie	35 min
Aug 18, 4:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Rowan	41 min
Aug 18, 4:46 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Lincoln	44 min
Aug 18, 5:01 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Cleveland, Gaston	44 min
Aug 18, 5:15 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Rowan	45 min
Aug 18, 5:42 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Cabarrus	48 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Carolina, 2000 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2000

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.