Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 2002

Flash Flood Warning 12, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

August 17, 2002Burke County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this flash flood warning at Aug 17, 2002, 6:03 PM EDT for Burke County, North Carolina. It was in force for 3 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 17, 2002, 6:03 PM EDT (22:03 UTC)
Expired
Aug 17, 2002, 9:00 PM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Burke County, NC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 107 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:04 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 167 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 2002-08-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 468 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2002-08-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 78 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
468 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-93 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
821 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
78 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
79 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 
WGUS52 KGSP 172203
FFWGSP
NCC023-180100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
603 PM EDT SAT AUG 17 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  BURKE COUNTY IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 900 PM EDT

* AT 559 PM EDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY 
RAIN IN CENTRAL AND NORTHERN BURKE COUNTY...FROM MORGANTON...OVER TO 
THE ICARD AREA...AND THE CATAWBA COUNTY BORDER. AS MUCH AS 3 TO 4 
INCHES OF RAIN WAS INDICATED BY RADAR IN THE PAST HOUR OR SO.

* ROADS...CREEKS...AND OTHER SMALL STREAMS WILL FLOOD.

EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF SMALL
CREEKS AND STREAMS...HIGHWAYS AND UNDERPASSES. ADDITIONALLY...COUNTRY
ROADS AND FARMLANDS ALONG THE BANKS OF CREEKS AND STREAMS AND OTHER
LOW LYING AREAS ARE SUBJECT TO FLASH FLOODING.

$$
JONES
3 follow-up statements
000 
WGUS72 KGSP 172220
FFSGSP
NCC023-035-180015-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
620 PM EDT SAT AUG 17 2002

...FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS CONTINUE UNTIL 8 PM EDT FOR CATAWBA COUNTY 
AND UNTIL 9 PM FOR BURKE COUNTY...

A VERY SERIOUS FLASH FLOOD HAS BEEN ONGOING...AND WILL GET 
WORSE...IN CATAWBA COUNTY...AROUND THE CITY OF HICKORY.  NUMEROUS 
TREES AND POWER LINES HAVE BEEN DOWNED...PEOPLE HAVE BEEN TRAPPED IN 
VEHICLES CAUGHT IN FLOOD WATER...AND THERE IS A REPORT OF STRUCTURE 
DAMAGE FROM LIGHTNING FIRES...AND FROM THE WEIGHT OF RAINWATER ON 
FLAT ROOFS.

RADAR INDICATED AS MUCH AS 5 TO 6 INCHES RAIN IN THE PAST 2 TO 3 
HOURS...AROUND HICKORY.  RADAR INDICATED 2 TO 4 INCHES IN BURKE 
COUNTY BETWEEN MORGANTON AND THE CATAWA BORDER.  RADAR SHOWED MORE 
STORMS MOVING OVER THE SAME AREAS...AND ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL 
AND SERIOUS FLOODING TO FOLLOW.  FLOODING COULD BECOME SERIOUS IN 
BURKE COUNTY AS WELL AS CATAWBA.

DURING HEAVY RAIN EVENTS...SEVERE URBAN FLOODING CAN OCCUR IN AREAS
SUCH AS UNDERPASSES...AND LOW AREAS WHERE WATER TENDS TO COLLECT.
CHILDREN SHOULD BE KEPT AWAY FROM SMALL STREAMS AND STORM DRAINS.

DO NOT BECOME A FATALITY DO NOT CROSS FLOODED ROADS...THE ROAD COULD
BE WASHED OUT FROM THE FLOW OF THE WATER...AND YOUR CAR COULD BE
SWEPT AWAY BY THE SWIFTLY MOVING WATER.

$$
JONES
000 
WGUS72 KGSP 172328
FFSGSP
NCC023-035-180115-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
727 PM EDT SAT AUG 17 2002

...FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS CONTINUE UNTIL 8 PM EDT FOR CATAWBA COUNTY 
AND UNTIL 9 PM FOR BURKE COUNTY...

HEAVY RAIN HAS MOVED EAST OF THE CITY OF HICKORY FOR THE TIME BEING. 
AT 710 PM RADAR SHOWED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH MODERATE TO 
HEAVY RAIN MOVING ACROSS MCDOWELL COUNTY...INTO THE WESTERN PART OF 
BURKE COUNTY.

THE SMALL SCALE FEATURE WHICH CAUSED THE PERSISTENT RAINFALL AND 
FLOODING ACROSS THE AREA FROM THE HICKORY AIRPORT NEAR 
ICARD...ACROSS THE CITY OF HICKORY HAS APPARENTLY MOVED AWAY.

HOWEVER...HIGH WATER AND FLOOD PROBLEMS WILL CONTINUE ALL EVENING IN 
THE AREA.  THERE HAVE BEEN REPORTS OF NUMEROUS TREES AND POWER LINES 
DOWNED BY FLOODING...AT LEAST ONE REPORT OF A ROOF 
COLLAPSE...NUMEROUS STRUCTURE FIRES FROM LIGHTNING...AND PEOPLE 
TRAPPED IN VEHICLES CAUGHT IN FLOOD WATER. THE SERIOUS NATURE OF 
THIS URBAN FLOOD HAS CAUSED GREAT DIFFICULTY FOR EMERGENCY 
RESPONDERS IN TERMS OF GETTING AROUND THE CITY.

DO NOT BECOME A FATALITY DO NOT CROSS FLOODED ROADS...THE ROAD COULD
BE WASHED OUT FROM THE FLOW OF THE WATER...AND YOUR CAR COULD BE 
SWEPT AWAY BY THE SWIFTLY MOVING WATER.  MOST FLOOD FATALITIES 
RESULT WHEN CARS ARE DRIVEN INTO OR ARE CAUGHT IN FLOOD WATER. EVEN 
MODERN SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES CANNOT BE SAFELY DRIVEN IN FLOOD WATER.

$$
JONES
000 
WGUS72 KGSP 180015
FFSGSP
NCC023-180100-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
815 PM EDT SAT AUG 17 2002

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 900 PM EDT FOR BURKE
COUNTY...

HEAVY RAIN HAS ENDED IN BURKE COUNTY...AND THE FLOODING REPORTED 
EARLIER HAS LEVELED OFF...AND SOME WATER WAS BEGINNING TO RECEDE.  
HOWEVER...SOME HIGH WATER AND FLOODED AREAS WILL LIKELY CONTINUE 
THROUGH THE EVENING.  AS NIGHT SETS IN...IT WILL BECOME DIFFICULT TO 
DETECT FLOODED ROADS AND BRIDGES WHILE DRIVING THROUGH THE 
COUNTY...ESPECIALLY IN EASTERN SECTIONS NEAR ICARD.

DO NOT BECOME A FATALITY DO NOT CROSS FLOODED ROADS...THE ROAD COULD
BE WASHED OUT FROM THE FLOW OF THE WATER...AND YOUR CAR COULD BE
SWEPT AWAY BY THE SWIFTLY MOVING WATER.

$$
JONES

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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 flash flood warning went out at Aug 17, 3:07 PM EDT, 2 hours 56 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 17, 3:07 PM EDT, 2 hours 56 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
307 PM EDT SAT AUG 17 2002

ZONAL FLOW WL CONTINUE OVER THE CONUS FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS.
THERE IS A BIT A WEAKNESS STILL IN THE SRN STREAM BETWEEN DEEP HIGH
PRESSURE OF THE SE COAST...AND OVER S TEXAS. ON THE EAST SIDE OF
THIS TROF...AIRMASS REMAINS VERY MOIST W/PWS AROUND 2 INCHES ON THIS
MORNINGS BNA SOUNDING. LAST TWO DAYS HAVE SEEN WIDESPREAD
CONVECTIVE PCPN OVER THE CWA...MUCH OF IT FALLING DURING THE LATE
EVENING HOURS. FLOW IS A LITTLE MORE WLY TDA THAN BEFORE...BUT WITH
THE STRONGEST VORT OF THE LAST SEVERAL DAYS POISED TO CROSS THE CWA
TNGT...THINK CONVECTION WL BECOME FAIRLY WIDESPREAD AGAIN THIS
EVENING...PARTICULARLY E OF THE MTNS IN THE NC FOOTHILLS AND
PIEDMONT.

FOR SUNDAY....FLOW IS NW AND PW/S ARE PROGGED TO DROP ABOUT A
QUARTER INCH. ALL IN ALL LOOKS LIKE MUCH LESS COVERAGE AND A COUPLE
DEGREES WARMER.

WE CURRENTLY HAVE POPS IN THE FORECAST MONDAY AND DRY TUESDAY. THIS
MIGHT BE BACKWARDS CONSIDERING THE LATEST RUN OF THE GLOBAL...BUT WL
NOT CHANGE YET AS RH IS STILL RATHER HIGH ON MONDAY...AND THE FROPA
TIMING FOR TUE IS STILL IN DOUBT.

EXTENDED...CONTINENTAL HIGH PRESSURE WILL DOMINATE THE FA WED AND
THU...AIR MASS TS ACTIVITY WILL BE TOO SPARSE TO MENTION ATTM. WILL
INTRODUCE CHANCE TS FOR THE MTNS FRI AS MOISTURE WILL BUILD AHEAD OF
THE FRONT AND RIDGE AXIS BEGINS TO MOVE FURTHER OVER THE ATLANTIC.
OP AVN BRINGS A POTENT LATE AUGUST COLD FRONT THROUGH THE REGION
SAT. THE ACTUAL STRENGTH WILL PROBABLY BE LESS THAN CURRENTLY
ADVERTISED...BUT DO FEEL THAT BLANKET POPS WILL PAN OUT. LITTLE
CHANGE TO CURRENT TEMP FORECAST WILL TWEAK TO REFLECT LATEST MAV AND
HPC GUIDANCE.

FCSTID =   14
GSP   70  92  70  92 /  60  60  30  40
AND   71  93  71  93 /  60  60  30  40
CLT   70  92  70  93 /  70  70  30  40
HKY   70  90  70  91 /  70  70  30  40
AVL   67  85  67  87 /  50  50  40  50

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

MCAVOY/NED

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 17, 1:15 PM EDT, 4 hours 48 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-172345-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
115 PM EDT SAT AUG 17 2002

...A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND
TONIGHT...

A MOIST...UNSTABLE AIRMASS WILL REMAIN OVER THE REGION TODAY AND
TONIGHT. OVER THE PAST TWO DAYS...WIDESPREAD SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM
ACTIVITY HAS DEVELOPED OVER THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST
GEORGIA...AND THE SAME THING WILL OCCUR AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON.

HOWEVER...AN UPPER LEVEL AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WILL CROSS THE REGION
DURING THIS EVENING. THIS WILL CAUSE THE THUNDERSTORMS TO BE A
LITTLE STRONGER AND A LITTLE MORE ORGANIZED THAN PREVIOUS DAYS.
WHILE THE ATMOSPHERE IS A LITTLE TOO WARM AND MOIST FOR WIDESPREAD
SEVERE WEATHER...A FEW THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON...AND INTO
TONIGHT...WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS AND DIME SIZED
HAIL.

THE STRONGER STORMS WILL ALSO PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN. WHILE THE
STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE A LITTLE MORE QUICKLY TODAY...A FEW
LOCATIONS MAY STILL SEE SEVERAL INCHES OF RAIN IN A SHORT PERIOD OF
TIME...AND RISK OF ISOLATED FLASH FLOODING WILL ALSO EXIST THIS
AFTERNOON AND OVERNIGHT.

SPOTTER GROUPS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO ACTIVATE LATE THIS AFTERNOON
AND THIS EVENING. 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 17, 5:03 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPCatawba3 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in North Carolina, 2002Every flash flood warning in 2002

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.