Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 132, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

October 25, 2001Graham County, Swain County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 25, 2001, 12:20 AM EDT for Graham County, Swain County, North Carolina. It was in force for 55 min. 6 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: Oct 25, 2001, 12:20 AM EDT (04:20 UTC)
Expired: Oct 25, 2001, 1:15 AM EDT
In force: 55 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

Counties Graham County, NC, Swain County, NC

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:24 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
Oct 25, 12:30 AM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Robbinsville, NC	Numerous trees and power lines down countywide. The squall line reached the western part of the county, along the SkyWay, first.
Oct 25, 12:30 AM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Bryson City, NC	Numerous trees and power lines were knocked down as a squall line moved rapidly through the mountains. Western sections were affected first.
Oct 25, 12:46 AM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Robbinsville, NC	Numerous trees and power lines down across the county. The squall line reached the center of the county, Robbinsville, shortly before 1 am. At least two of the trees fell onto automobiles.
Oct 25, 12:46 AM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Fontana Vlg, NC	Numerous trees and power lines down across the county. The squall line reached the resort community and caused some damage at campgrounds and cabins.
Oct 25, 1:00 AM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Stecoah, NC	Numerous trees and power lines down across the county. The squall line reached the eastern part of the county around 1 am.
Oct 25, 1:10 AM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Bryson City, NC	Numerous trees and power lines down as a squall line moved rapidly through the mountains. The squall line reached the main population center shortly after 1 am.

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
Oct 24, 10:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 4.3 hours before the alert went out and 240 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: 1415 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -14 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 893 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 209 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 270 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.7
Supercell composite: 7.6

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 Oct 24, 9:45 PM EDT, 2 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 24, 9:45 PM EDT, 2 hours 35 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
945 PM EDT WED OCT 24 2001

SFC OBS PLACE FRONTAL POSITION E OF NASHVILLE WITH RADAR AND
SATELLITE SHOWING LONG CONVECTIVE LINE STRETCHING BACK TO THE LA
GULF COAST. UPPER ANALYSIS HAS 850 MB 50 KT JET PULLING N INTO THE
OH VALLEY BUT SOLID 35 TO 45 KT FROM BNA SOUTHWARD. HELICITY ASSOC
WITH THE TROUGH SHOULD TRANSLATE EASTWARD...BUT WARM LAYER ALOFT IN
SOUNDINGS FROM FFC TO GSO COMBINED WITH COOLING TEMPS IS KEEPING
INSTABILITY DOWN SOMEWHAT OVER THE WRN CAROLINAS. MOMENTUM OF THE
CONVECTION...COMBINED WITH SOLID FORCING AND INSTABILITY TO NEAR
KNOXVILLE...MAY ALLOW SOME STRONG CONVECTION TO REACH THE SMOKIES
AFTER MIDNIGHT. SPC WILL INCLUDE EXTREME WESTERN NC IN THE SVR TSTM
WATCH.

GRADIENT WINDS CONTINUE TO TIGHTEN...BUT SOME DIFFICULTY OBSERVED IN
TRANSLATING WINDS TO THE SFC THUS FAR THIS EVENING. WILL LEAVE WIND
ADVISORY IN PLACE SINCE MIXING THROUGHOUT THE OVERNIGHT SHOULD ONLY
INCREASE.

ONLY MINOR ADJUSTMENT IN TEMPS.

FCSTID = 33
GSP   60  72  40  65 /  30  30   0   0
AND   60  72  40  65 /  30  30   0   0
CLT   60  71  39  64 /  30  30   0   0
HKY   57  65  37  62 /  40  20   0  10
AVL   52  64  35  58 /  60  20   0  10

.GSP...
GA...WIND ADVISORY FOR TONIGHT AND THURSDAY ZONES GAZ010...GAZ017.
NC...WIND ADVISORY FOR TONIGHT AND THURSDAY FOR ZONES
     NCZ033...NCZ048>053...NCZ058>059...NCZ062>065.
SC...WIND ADVISORY FOR TONIGHT AND THURSDAY FOR ZONES SCZ001>003.

HG

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 24, 9:02 PM EDT, 3 hours 18 minutes before

NCZ033-048>053-058-059-062>065-250645-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
902 PM EDT WED OCT 24 2001

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE IN THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS OF NORTH
CAROLINA...

LATE WEDNESDAY EVENING...A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WAS RAPIDLY
MOVING EAST...IN EXCESS OF 50 MPH...ACROSS CENTRAL TENNESSEE. THE
LINE WILL GRADUALLY WEAKEN AS IT MOVES EAST INTO COOLER...MORE
STABLE AIR. HOWEVER...AS THE LINE ENTERS THE WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
MOUNTAINS SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT...DAMAGING WINDS WILL STILL BE
POSSIBLE. HIGHER ELEVATIONS IN THE SOUTHWEST MOUNTAIN COUNTIES OF
GRAHAM...SWAIN AND MACON WILL BE MOST AT RISK.

THE FACT THAT ENVIRONMENTAL WINDS WILL ALREADY BE STRONG AHEAD OF A
COLD FRONT WILL HELP TO AUGMENT THE STRONG WINDS ASSOCIATED WITH THE
LINE OF STORMS. IF THE LINE IS A LITTLE STRONGER THAN ANTICIPATED AS
IT ENTERS THE MOUNTAINS...DAMAGING WINDS WOULD EXTEND AS FAR EAST AS
ASHEVILLE...AND INTO THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS.

DISPATCHERS SHOULD ENSURE COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS ARE
AWARE OF THIS INFORMATION.

MCAVOY

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 25, 12:29 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Pickens	31 min
Oct 25, 2:15 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	York	60 min
Oct 24, 11:37 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Macon	38 min
Oct 25, 2:09 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Haywood, Jackson	36 min
Oct 25, 2:26 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Buncombe	49 min
Oct 25, 2:32 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Henderson, Transylvania	43 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Carolina, 2001 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2001

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.