Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 94, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

July 4, 2001Rutherford County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 4, 2001, 6:03 PM EDT for Rutherford County, North Carolina. It was in force for 42 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
Jul 4, 2001, 6:03 PM EDT (22:03 UTC)
Expired
Jul 4, 2001, 6:45 PM EDT
In force
42 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Rutherford County, NC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 64 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:03 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
Jul 4, 6:10 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50 ELake Lure, NCNumerous trees and power lines knocked down.
Jul 4, 6:25 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 60 ERutherfordton, NCNumerous trees and power lines blown down between Rutherfordton and Forest City. Power poles were snapped in half. Urban flooding occurred, closing three streets. A car was trapped under downed power lines. Some trees were blown onto houses.

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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 197 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2001-07-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 509 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2001-07-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 32 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
509 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-81 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
674 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
27 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.

000 
WUUS52 KGSP 042203
SVRGSP

NCC161-042245-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
603 PM EDT WED JUL 4 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  RUTHERFORD COUNTY IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 645 PM EDT

* AT 603 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES NORTH OF RUTHERFORDTON...OR ABOUT 5 MILES
  SOUTH OF THERMAL CITY...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  SPINDALE AT 605 PM EDT
  SUNSHINE AT 615 PM EDT
  ELLENBORO AT 630 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.

$$
NEAL/JONES

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 Jul 4, 3:30 PM EDT, 2 hours 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 4, 3:30 PM EDT, 2 hours 33 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
330 PM EDT WED JUL 4 2001

CONVECTION MAINLY SCATTERED OVER CWFA FOR NOW. SHORT WAVE MOVING
THRU UPPER TROF HELPING TO SET UP SQUALL LINE TO OUR NORTHWEST. THIS
LINE WILL MOVE INTO THE MTNS BY EVENING. SVR TSRA POSSIBLE WITH THE
LINE. OTHER STRONG CONVECTION FORMING ALONG LEE TROF OVER FOOTHILLS.
ISOLATED SVR TSRA POSSIBLE HERE AS WELL. WILL USE AT LEAST LIKELY
POPS ALL AREAS THIS EVENING AS CONVECTION WILL BECOME MORE NUMEROUS.

ATMOS DRIES OUT A LITTLE WITH WLY FLOW THU. HOWEVER ANOTHER SHORT
WAVE/THERMAL TROF AND SFC FNT MOVE THRU. SCT AFT CONVECTION
POSSIBLE...BUT MUCH LESS COVERAGE THAN TODAY. 30 POP SHOULD SUFFICE.

HIGHS VARY ONLY A LITTLE AS LOW LEVEL THICKNESSES REMAIN NEARLY THE
SAME. HOWEVER LOWS THU AND FRI NITES SHOULD BE LOWER GIVEN CLEAR
SKIES AND LOWER DEW POINTS.

GSP   70  89  65  90 /  50  30   0   0
AND   70  89  65  90 /  50  30   0   0
CLT   70  89  65  88 /  50  30   0   0
HKY   67  87  63  87 /  50  30   0   0
AVL   65  86  60  85 /  50  30   0   0

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

RWH

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North 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.