Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2000

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 49, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

May 20, 2000Alexander County, Catawba County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 20, 2000, 5:18 PM EDT for Alexander County, Catawba County, North Carolina. It was in force for 42 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: May 20, 2000, 5:18 PM EDT (21:18 UTC)
Expired: May 20, 2000, 6:00 PM EDT
In force: 42 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

Counties Alexander County, NC, Catawba County, NC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 137 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:20 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
May 20, 5:30 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52 E	Bethlehem, NC
May 20, 5:30 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 55 E	Hickory, NC
May 20, 5:35 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Stony Pt, 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 watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 20, 4:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 218 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: 38 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -61 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 696 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 87 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 130 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.

982 
WUUS52 KGSP 202119
SVRGSP
NCC003-035-202200-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
518 PM EDT SAT MAY 20 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  CATAWBA COUNTY IN PIEDMONT NORTH CAROLINA   
  ALEXANDER COUNTY IN PIEDMONT NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 600 PM EDT

* AT 518 PM EDT...SEVERE WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM 2 MILES NORTHEAST OF HICKORY...OR ABOUT 2 MILES WEST
  OF ST. STEPHENS...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  BETHLEHEM AT 520 PM EDT
  CLAREMONT AT 525 PM EDT
  MILLERSVILLE AT 530 PM EDT
  HICKORY AT 530 PM EDT
  STONY POINT AT 540 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.

$$

SAB

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 20, 3:40 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Yancey	35 min
May 20, 3:46 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Buncombe	29 min
May 20, 4:18 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	McDowell	42 min
May 20, 5:11 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Burke	49 min
May 20, 5:48 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Iredell	42 min
May 20, 6:03 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Davie	57 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.