Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 17, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

May 21, 2001Pickens County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 21, 2001, 4:31 PM EDT for Pickens County, South Carolina. It was in force for 29 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 21, 2001, 4:31 PM EDT (20:31 UTC)
Expired: May 21, 2001, 5:00 PM EDT
In force: 29 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Pickens County, SC

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 235 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: 862 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -24 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 487 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 37 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 69 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

381 
WUUS52 KGSP 212032
SVRGSP
SCC077-212100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
431 PM EDT MON MAY 21 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN PICKENS COUNTY IN UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 500 PM EDT

* AT 431 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM 12 MILES NORTHWEST OF PICKENS...OR ABOUT OVER ROCKY
  BOTTOM...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  ROCKY BOTTOM AT 440 PM EDT
  PUMPKINTOWN AT 445 PM EDT

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

$$
JAT

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 May 21, 2:38 PM EDT, 1 hour 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 21, 2:38 PM EDT, 1 hour 53 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
238 PM EDT MON MAY 21 2001

SIGNIFICANT SHORTWAVE REACHES AREA THIS EVENING IN RUC...CROSSING
AREA TONIGHT. THIS FEATURE ACCOMPANIED BY UPPER DIVERGENCE...OMEGA
AND LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE. CAPES REMAIN HIGH THROUGH THE EVENING...
MID LEVELS TO BE SOMEWHAT DRY. DIRECTIONAL SHEAR DECREASES HOWEVER.
EXPECT ACTIVITY TO PEAK AROUND 06Z...WITH MOUNTAINS MOST FAVORED.
MODELS DIFFER ON FROPA...BUT GENERALLY CLUSTER AROUND AN AFTERNOON
FROPA AT GSP AND EARLY EVENING AT CLT. OMEGA/UL DIVERGENCE/LL
CONVERGENCE PEAK AGAIN NEAR FROPA...WHEN COLUMN MOIST SFC-400 MB.

DRYING FROM W BEGINS TUE AFTERNOON IN MOUNTAINS. DOWNSLOPE DOES NOT
LAST LONG ENOUGH TO SAVE LEE OF MOUNTAINS FROM COLD ADVECTION WED.
MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH LARGE UPPER LOW REACHES TN LINE THU. MEDIUM
RANGE MODELS DIFFER REGARDING SURFACE LOW AND ITS MOISTURE...AS WELL
AS ANY COASTAL DEVLOPMENT ON A SECONDARY FRONT DOWNSTREAM. STUCK
WITH THE MAIN FACTS FOR EXTENDED: LARGE CLOSED LOW AND MOISTURE TO
NW...WITH SOME AMOUNT OF UPSLOPE COMPONENT ON TN LINE. WITH THAT IN
MIND...KEPT CLOUDS/SHOWERS/COLD NC MOUNTAINS THU-SUN...WITH PARTLY
CLOUDY AND COOL E OF MOUNTAINS...MODERATING TOWARD WEEKEND. ONE
EXCEPTION WAS FRI WHEN MODELS BRING SECONDARY FRONT ACROSS FROM
W...WHICH HAS CONSISTENCY FROM YESTERDAYS RUNS. CARRYING POPS ALL
LOCATIONS FRI.

FCSTID = 7
GSP   67  77  52  75 /  60  70  20  10
AND   68  78  53  76 /  60  70  20  10
CLT   66  76  51  74 /  60  70  30  10
HKY   65  75  50  72 /  60  70  10  10
AVL   63  71  46  68 /  70  70  10  20

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

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 21, 11:59 AM EDT, 4 hours 32 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
1159 AM EDT MON MAY 21 2001

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

930 AM     3 W COLUMBUS              NC   WIND DAMAGE
05/21/01   POLK                           TREE DOWN. SHERIFF
                                          REPORT.

1030 AM    5 SW COLUMBUS             NC   WIND DAMAGE
05/21K/01   POLK                           SHERIFF REPORT: TREE AND
                                          POWER LINE DOWN.

JAT

Special weather statement, May 21, 3:13 PM EDT, 1 hour 18 minutes before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-220300-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
313 PM EDT MON MAY 21 2001

...SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE TONIGHT AND TUESDAY...

AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL CROSS THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS FROM
THE WEST TONIGHT. THIS FEATURE WILL REACT WITH A MOIST...UNSTABLE
AIR MASS OVER THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA TO PRODUCE
THUNDERSTORMS. ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP TUESDAY AS A
COLD FRONT CROSSES THE REGION. CONDITIONS WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR SOME
THUNDERSTORMS TO BECOME SEVERE...PRODUCING DAMAGING WIND...AND LARGE
HAIL. SOME LOCATIONS COULD RECEIVE VERY HEAVY RAINFALL AS WELL.

SPOTTER GROUPS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO ACTIVATE QUICKLY TONIGHT AND
TUESDAY. DISPATCHERS SHOULD ENSURE COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
OFFICIALS ARE AWARE OF THIS INFORMATION.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA OUTLET FOR
THE LATEST UPDATES CONCERNING THIS POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER
SITUATION.

JAT

Local storm report, May 21, 3:40 PM EDT, 51 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
340 PM EDT MON MAY 21 2001

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

250 PM     10 E COLUMBUS             NC   FLASH FLOOD
05/21/01   POLK                           SHERIFF REPORTED FLOODING
                                          IN GREEN CREEK AREA.

JAT

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 21, 4:34 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Greenville	41 min
May 21, 5:15 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Greenville	30 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.