Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 138, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

December 17, 2001Laurens County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Dec 17, 2001, 6:24 PM EST for Laurens County, South Carolina. It was in force for 51 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
Dec 17, 2001, 6:24 PM EST (23:24 UTC)
Expired
Dec 17, 2001, 7:15 PM EST
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Laurens County, SC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 49 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:27 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Dec 17, 6:30 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 50 EGray Court, SC3 trees were blown down across roads. Trees also reported down in other parts of the county.

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

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 256 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 2001-12-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 18 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 2001-12-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 157 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
18 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-45 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
706 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
157 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
199 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.

360 
WUUS52 KGSP 172325
SVRGSP
SCC059-180015-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
624 PM EST MON DEC 17 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  LAURENS COUNTY IN UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 715 PM EST

* AT 624 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH DAMAGING WINDS FROM 12 MILES NORTHWEST OF
  LAURENS TO 9 MILES NORTHWEST OF GREENWOOD...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 60
  MPH.

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEAR...
  GRAY COURT AT 635 PM EST.
  LAURENS AT 640 PM EST.
  CLINTON AT 650 PM EST.
  JOANNA AT 700 PM EST.

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

$$
HG

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 Dec 17, 3:00 PM EST, 3 hours 24 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 17, 3:00 PM EST, 3 hours 24 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
300 PM EST MON DEC 17 2001

AREA OF RAIN MOVING INTO WRN MOUNTAINS OF NC IS OF PRIMARY CONCERN.
MODELS ARE CONSISTENT WITH BRINGING THE MAIN FORCING FOR PRECIP
ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA THIS EVENING AND MAKING A QUICK EXIT BY 06Z
TUESDAY. SEE NO REASON TO DISPUTE THIS WITH THE BACK EDGE OF THE
PRECIP ALONG THE COLD FRONT OVER MIDDLE TN AS OF 20Z. WILL GO WITH
AN 80 PERCENT RAIN CHANCE ACROSS ALL ZONES EVEN THOUGH THE BACK EDGE
OF THE RAIN WILL BE WORKING INTO THE WESTERN ZONES AT 6 PM. WORDING
WILL BE MAINLY BEFORE MIDNIGHT IN MOST AREAS EXCEPT FOR THE EASTERN
ZONES. WILL KEEP THE WIND ADVISORY GOING UNTIL THE FRONT ARRIVES IN
THE  MID EVENING SINCE THE POTENTIAL STILL EXISTS FOR CONVECTIVE
ELEMENTS TO BRING SOME HIGHER WIND GUSTS DOWN TO RIDGETOP LEVEL.

SHORT WAVE SHOULD MOVE RAPIDLY OFF THE E COAST TUESDAY MORNING.
EXPECT LINGERING SHOWERS OVER THE NORTHERN NC MOUNTAINS IN THE
MORNING AS WRAPAROUND LOW LEVEL MOISTURE IS FORCED UP THE WESTERN
SLOPES...OTHERWISE A GRADUAL CLEARING ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS. ACROSS
THE FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT...CLEARING WILL BE MORE PRONOUNCED AND
RAPID BY THE MIDDLE PART OF THE DAY AS A STRONG DOWNSLOPE WIND
DEVELOPS. THE DOWNSLOPE WIND SHOULD COUNTER THE COLD ADVECTION AT
LOW LEVELS. WILL STICK CLOSE TO NUMERICAL GUIDANCE.

UPPER RIDGING WILL MOVE ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS FOR THE
REMAINDER OF TUESDAY AND MOST OF WEDNESDAY. THIS SHOULD SPELL FAIR
WEATHER ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA AND GUIDANCE IS GENERALLY ACCEPTED.

THE ETA AND AVN ARE CONSISTENT BRING A SHORT WAVE ACROSS THE WESTERN
CAROLINAS ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT. AT THIS TIME...IT APPEARS THAT THE
EFFECT ON OUR WEATHER WILL BE MINIMAL AS THIS UPPER SYSTEM WILL
REMAIN CUT OFF FROM GULF AND ATLANTIC MOISTURE.

QUIET AND SEASONABLY COOL WEATHER WILL DOMINATE DAYS 3-5 AS A DRY
NORTHWEST FLOW ON THURSDAY GIVES WAY TO HIGH PRESSURE SETTLING OVER
THE REGION FOR FRIDAY AND SATURDAY.

EXTENDED RANGE MODELS INDICATE SOME INCREASING HIGH LVL RH SATURDAY
NIGHT...FOLLOWED BY A DEEPENING RETURN FLOW ON SUNDAY OUT AHEAD OF
STRONG S/WV MOVING ACROSS THE PLAINS. BEST COMBINATION OF DEEP
MOISTURE & LIFT LOOKS TO BE SUN NITE INTO MONDAY & FOR NOW...WILL
CONFINE SHOWER MENTION TO DAY 7.

FCSTID = 10
GSP   45  62  33  60 /  80   0   0   0
AND   46  63  33  61 /  80   0   0   0
CLT   50  63  33  60 /  80   0   0   0
HKY   45  60  31  57 /  80   0   0   0
AVL   43  56  30  56 /  80  10   0   0

.GSP...
GA...WIND ADVISORY FOR THIS EVENING FOR ZONE GAZ010.
NC...WIND ADVISORY FOR THIS EVENING FOR ZONES
NCZ033...NCZ048>053...NCZ058>059...NCZ062>065.
SC...NONE.

MOORE/55

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 17, 6:44 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPSpartanburg31 min
Dec 17, 6:50 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPGreenwood40 min
Dec 17, 6:55 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPUnion50 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 2001Every 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.