Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 12, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

March 31, 2002York County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 31, 2002, 2:17 PM EST for York County, South Carolina. It was in force for 43 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 31, 2002, 2:17 PM EST (19:17 UTC)
Expired
Mar 31, 2002, 3:00 PM EST
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County York County, SC

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 31, 2:30 PM ESTHail 1Mc Connells, SC
Mar 31, 2:50 PM ESTHail 0.88Rock Hill Bryant Arp, SC

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, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 169 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 2002-03-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2002-03-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 132 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
472 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
132 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
230 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.

020 
WUUS52 KGSP 311917
SVRGSP
SCC091-312000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
216 PM EST SUN MAR 31 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 300 PM EST

* AT 216 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS 14 MILES SOUTHWEST
  OF YORK...OR ABOUT 8 MILES SOUTH OF SHARON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35
  MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  SHARON AT 215 PM EST.
  MCCONNELLS AT 220 PM EST.
  YORK AT 230 PM EST.
  TEGA CAY AT 245 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.

$$
MCAVOY

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 31, 1:56 PM EST, 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 31, 1:56 PM EST, 21 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...PRELIMINARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
156 PM EST SUN MAR 31 2002

AS FAR AS THE TONIGHT PERIOD GOES IN THE ZFP...12 HR POPS WILL BE
AT LEAST LIKELY FOR TS/SHRA UNTIL SCOURING COLD FRONT MOVES THRU
LATER THIS EVENING. WILL RE-EXAMINE DETAILS CLOSER TO ZFP ISSUANCE
TIME FOR THE IMMEDIATE SHORT TERM.

OVERNIGHT...STILL EXPECT CLEARING EAST OF THE MTNS...WITH LINGERING
CLDS & BZY CONDS IN THE NC MTNS. WILL HANG ONTO GOING SMALL POPS
FOR UPSLOPE SHOWERS IN N MTNS.

DRY WESTERLY FLOW THRU A DEEP LAYER DEVELOPS ON MONDAY & AFTER
A BZY-WDY MORNING...HIPRES WILL BUILD EAST INTO THE CWFA...LOOSENING
GRADIENT DURING THE AFTERNOON. BROAD SW FLOW DEVELOPS ON TUESDAY
AS A GRADUAL INCREASE IN LLVL MOISTURE DEVELOPS ON RETURN FLOW OUT
AHEAD OF APRCHG COLD FRONT.

12Z AVN LOOKS TO BE FASTER THAN PREVIOUS RUNS IN BRINGING IN
MEASURABLE PCPN IN THE NC MTNS EARLY WED AM...& THEN ACRS THE
BALANCE OF CWFA THRU 18Z AS FRONT MOVES EAST OF THE CWFA IN THE
AFTERNOON. UNABLE TO VIEW ETAX DATA TO COMPARE TIMING...SO BEST
TO LEAVE CURRENT PCPN TIMING AS IS...LIMITED TO DAYTIME HOURS
ON WEDNESDAY.

IN THE EXTENDED...CWFA REMAINS IN A GENERAL WNW FLOW ALOFT...SOUTH
OF THE BEST CYCLONIC UPPER FLOW THU & FRI WITH LLVL RIDGE CENTER
MOVING FROM THE UPPER MIDWEST TO NE U.S. OVERALL ATMOSPHERE CONTINUES
TO LOOK DRY ENOUGH & ANY FORCING WEAK ENOUGH TO CONTINUE CURRENT DRY
FCST...BUT EASTERLY LLVL FLOW MAY RESULT IN MORE CLOUDINESS THAN WE
CURRENTLY HAVE ADVERTISED. BECAUSE OF THIS...WILL INCREASE CLD PCT
IN MATRICES FOR THU NITE THRU FRI NITE. ON DAY 7...OPMRF TRANSLATES
HIPRES WELL OFFSHORE...ALLOWING DEEPER RH TO INCREASE ACRS REGION ON
STRENGTHENING RETURN FLOW. PREFERRED TRENDS OF ECMWF/MRF ENSEMBLE
MEANS ARE NOT AS AGGRESSIVE WITH THIS SCENARIO...SO WILL KEEP SUNDAY
DRY.

FCSTID = 55

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

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 31, 11:52 AM EST, 2 hours 25 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-312100-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1152 AM EST SUN MAR 31 2002

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

LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE FROM THE GULF STATES INTO THE WESTERN
CAROLINAS THIS EVENING. THE ATMOSPHERE AHEAD OF THE LOW PRESSURE
AREA IS MODERATELY UNSTABLE AND IS FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF
THUNDERSTORMS. A FEW OF THESE STORMS COULD BE SEVERE ACROSS THE
WESTERN CAROLINAS AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA...ESPECIALLY NEAR
AND TO THE SOUTH OF A LINE FROM CLARKESVILLE GEORGIA...TO GREENVILLE
SOUTH CAROLINA...TO STATESVILLE NORTH CAROLINA.

WHILE THE MAIN THREATS WITH THESE STORMS WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS AND
HAIL...ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. IN ADDITION...LOCALIZED
FLOODING COULD QUICKLY DEVELOP FROM HEAVY RAINFALL ASSOCIATED WITH
THESE THUNDERSTORMS...PARTICULARLY IN THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS.

ALL INTERESTS SHOULD BE AWARE OF THIS POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER
AND KEEP POSTED ON WEATHER STATEMENTS...WATCHES...OR WARNINGS WHICH
MAY BE ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. BE PREPARED TO TAKE
QUICK ACTION IF THREATENING WEATHER IS SIGHTED OR A WARNING IS
ISSUED FOR YOUR AREA.

SPOTTER GROUPS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO ACTIVATE QUICKLY LATE THIS
AFTERNOON. DISPATCHERS SHOULD ENSURE COUNTY EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
OFFICIALS ARE AWARE OF THIS INFORMATION.

HANDEL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 31, 1:55 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPUnion35 min
Mar 31, 2:24 PM ESTTornado WarningGSPYork36 min
Mar 31, 2:47 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPChester43 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 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.