Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 10, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

March 26, 2002Elbert County, Georgia

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 26, 2002, 12:43 PM EST for Elbert County, Georgia. It was in force for 47 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
Mar 26, 2002, 12:43 PM EST (17:43 UTC)
Expired
Mar 26, 2002, 1:30 PM EST
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Elbert County, GA

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 102 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:44 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
Mar 26, 1:18 PM ESTThunderstorm Wind 50 EElberton, GAPower lines were blown down and a railroad crossing gate was destroyed.
Mar 26, 1:18 PM ESTHail 0.75Elberton, GAPea to dime size hail was reported covering the ground.

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

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 175 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2002-03-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 524 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2002-03-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 156 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
524 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-76 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
483 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
156 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
167 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS52 KGSP 261743
SVRGSP
GAC105-261830-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1243 PM EST TUE MAR 26 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  ELBERT COUNTY IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA

* UNTIL 130 PM EST

* AT 1243 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM WITH LARGE HAIL 11 MILES WEST OF ELBERTON...OR ABOUT 7
  MILES SOUTH OF BOWMAN...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  BOWMAN AT 1250 PM EST.
  DEWY ROSE AT 1255 PM EST.
  ELBERTON AT 100 PM EST.
  RUCKERSVILLE AT 110 PM EST.

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.

$$

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 Mar 26, 10:15 AM EST, 2 hours 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 26, 10:15 AM EST, 2 hours 28 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1015 AM EST TUE MAR 26 2002

LATE MRNG ZN ISSUANCE WILL CONT CATEGORICAL POPS FOR ENTR CWA THIS
AFTN. LATEST RUC PLACES AXIS OF LOWEST LI AT NOON EAST OF MTNS FM
UPSTATE SC TO VCNTY IREDELL COUNTY. WIND SHEAR FM SFC TO 700 MB
INCRSS A BIT BY 21Z WHEN INSTBLTY AXIS IS STILL CLOSE TO NOON
POSITION.  CLD CVR WILL INHIBIT SFC HEATING MOST OF OUR CWA... BUT
POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR TSTMS TO BCM SVR AS THEY MOVE INTO MORE UNSTBL
AIR E OF MTNS DURG AFTN. 06Z ETA FCST SHEAR/CAPE COMBO AT CLT MID TO
LATE AFTN THAT SUGGESTS SVR TSTMS QUITE PSBL.

.GSP...
GA...WIND ADVISORY FOR AREA LAKES IN THE MOUNTAINS.
NC...WIND ADVISORY FOR AREA LAKES IN THE MOUNTAINS.
SC...WIND ADVISORY FOR AREA LAKES IN THE MOUNTAINS.

LGL

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 26, 11:05 AM EST, 1 hour 38 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-262100-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1105 AM EST TUE MAR 26 2002

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING
ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE CAROLINAS...

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CROSSING THE APPALACHIANS WILL STRENGTHEN
AS THEY MOVE INTO UNSTABLE AIR EAST OF THE MOUNTAINS. BY MID AND
LATE AFTERNOON... SOME OF THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND
AND LARGE HAIL. PEOPLE IN EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA AND THE WESTERN
CAROLINAS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER. THE PORTION
OF THE NWS GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG COUNTY WARNING AREA THAT IS MOST
LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IS EAST OF A LINE
EXTENDING FROM CHESTER SOUTH CAROLINA NORTH TO TAYLORSVILLE NORTH
CAROLINA. THIS INCLUDES THE CHARLOTTE METROPOLITAN AREA.

THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT
THAT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION BY LATE TONIGHT. FOLLOWING THE
FRONTAL PASSAGE... WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE WEST AND NORTHWEST. DRIER
AIR WILL SPREAD OVER THE CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA BY
WEDNESDAY MORNING.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA OUTLET FOR
UPDATED WEATHER INFORMATION DURING THE AFTERNOON.

LGL

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 2002Every severe thunderstorm 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.