Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 138, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

June 20, 2002Buncombe County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 20, 2002, 2:30 PM EDT for Buncombe County, North Carolina. It was in force for 45 min. 1 report 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
Jun 20, 2002, 2:30 PM EDT (18:30 UTC)
Expired
Jun 20, 2002, 3:15 PM EDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Buncombe County, NC

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 20, 2:40 PM EDTHail 0.75Leicester, NC

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, 6.5 hours before the alert went out and 243 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 2002-06-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 309 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 2002-06-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -31 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
309 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-62 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
679 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
9 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 201830
SVRGSP
NCC021-201915-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
230 PM EDT THU JUN 20 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  WEST CENTRAL BUNCOMBE COUNTY IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 315 PM EDT

* AT 229 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM WITH LARGE HAIL 8 MILES SOUTH OF MARSHALL...OR ABOUT 3
  MILES NORTHWEST OF LEICESTER.  THE STORM WAS NEARLY STATIONARY.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  LEICESTER AT 235 PM EDT.

HAIL TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS AND WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH ARE LIKELY 
WITH THIS STORM. 

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.

$$

JONES/LANE

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 Jun 20, 10:43 AM EDT, 3 hours 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 20, 10:43 AM EDT, 3 hours 47 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1043 AM EDT THU JUN 20 2002

AREA SOUNDINGS ONCE AGAIN INDICATE VERY SHALLOW LAYER OF LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE ACROSS THE AREA THIS MORNING. THIS SHOULD MIX OUT NICELY
DURING THE AFTERNOON...LEAVING A RATHER DRY SURFACE AIRMASS FOR LATE
JUNE. WITH 500MB THERMAL TROUGH POSITIONED OVER THE AREA...AM STILL
CONCERNED THAT A FEW MORE STORMS COULD INITIATE LATE THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING...MAINLY IN THE SAME AREAS THAT RECEIVED CONVECTION
YESTERDAY. PLAN ON ADDING ISOLATED THUNDER ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS...
WHERE DIFFERENTIAL HEATING WILL BE A FACTOR...AND ACROSS THE UPSTATE
AND SOUTHWEST PIEDMONT...WHICH WILL BE IN VICINITY OF 500MB SHEAR
AXIS. ALREADY BEGINNING TO SEE CU FIELD DEVELOPMENT EAST OF THE BLUE
RIDGE...AND WILL GO AHEAD AND BUMP SKY COVERAGE UP TO PARTLY CLOUDY.
TEMPS LOOK GOOD IN GENERAL...AND PLAN ONLY A FEW TWEAKS.

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

LANE

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 20, 2:22 PM EDT, 8 minutes before
GAZ010-017-NCZ033-048>053-058-059-062>065-SCZ001>003-202200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
222 PM EDT THU JUN 20 2002

THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP IN THE MOUNTAINS THROUGH THE
AFTERNOON...AND INTO THE EARLY EVENING.  COVERAGE OF THE STORMS WILL
NOT BE WIDESPREAD.  HOWEVER...SOME OF THE STORMS COULD BECOME
STRONG...WITH PEA TO MARBLE SIZE HAIL...AND GUSTY WINDS TO 40 MPH OR
HIGHER. CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING WILL OCCUR IN THE MOUNTAINS...SO
PEOPLE IN OUTDOOR AREAS SHOULD MOVE TO SAFETY BEFORE A STORM ARRIVES.

A STORM OR TWO COULD PRODUCE A BIT LARGER HAIL...UP TO DIME OR
QUARTER SIZE...AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS COULD BECOME
NECESSARY IN THOSE CASES. WIDESPREAD SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER
DETAILS OR UPDATES.

JONES

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 20, 4:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPSwain37 min
Jun 20, 4:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPGraham48 min
Jun 20, 5:08 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPMacon37 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North 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.