Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 141, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

June 20, 2002Macon County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 20, 2002, 5:08 PM EDT for Macon County, North Carolina. It was in force for 37 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, 5:08 PM EDT (21:08 UTC)
Expired: Jun 20, 2002, 5:45 PM EDT
In force: 37 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Macon County, NC

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 113 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:10 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Jun 20, 5:25 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	Aquone, NC	Reported near Lake Nantahala.

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, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 221 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 570 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -53 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 804 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -27 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -6 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 202108
SVRGSP
NCC113-202145-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN MACON COUNTY IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 545 PM EDT

* AT 507 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS 9 MILES EAST OF
  ROBBINSVILLE...OR ABOUT 6 MILES NORTH OF KYLE...MOVING SOUTHWEST AT
  30 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  NANTAHALA LAKE AT 520 PM EDT.

THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. 
TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS 
STORM. FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN CAN OCCUR WITH ANY 
THUNDERSTORM.
$$
HG

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, 3:03 PM EDT, 2 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 20, 3:03 PM EDT, 2 hours 5 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
303 PM EDT THU JUN 20 2002

ENOUGH MOISTURE AND LIFT IN THE MOUNTAINS...UNDER MID-LEVEL COLD
POOL...TO SPIN UP ISOLATED STRONG CONVECTION IN THE HIGHER TERRAIN
AREAS. WILL INCLUDE SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN
THE MOUNTAINS THIS EVENING...ELSEWHERE JUST PARTLY CLOUDY. BELIEVE
WINDS WILL STAY UP ENOUGH OUTSIDE MOUNTAINS TO PRECLUDE FOG
DEVELOPMENT OVERNIGHT...ALTHOUGH I AM FORECASTING A DECREASE LATE.

AM FEELING A BIT MORE CONFIDENT WITH THIS FORECAST PACKAGE THAN IN
PAST DAYS...AS MODELS SEEM TO FINALLY BE REACHING A CONSENSUS. UPPER
LOW TO MIGRATE WESTWARD ACROSS OUR EASTERN AREAS NEXT FEW
DAYS...FINALLY REACHING A POSITION IN THE MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.
BOTH ETA AND AVN REMARKABLY SIMILAR IN THEIR HANDLING OF SURFACE
WAVE ON SOUTHERN END OF INVERTED TROF ALONG COASTAL
SECTIONS...PLACING A LOW IN NORTH FLORIDA BY 48 HOURS. MOISTURE
MINIMUM ON FRIDAY...AND MODELS HAVE BACKED OFF ON THEIR 85H COLD
ADVECTION WITH THIS SYSTEM FOR FRIDAY. SINCE IT IS LATE JUNE AND
CLOUDS SHOULD BE SCATTERED AT BEST...WILL GO ABOVE GUIDANCE MAXES ON
FRIDAY ALL AREAS. COULD NOT RULE OUT ANOTHER ROUND OF ISOLATED
CONVECTION IN THE MOUNTAINS...BUT COLD POOL SHIFTS SOUTH BY LATE
TOMORROW AFTERNOON...AND RESULTANT LAPSE RATES NOT AS STEEP...BUT
WILL KEEP OUT OF FORECAST FOR NOW.

WE NOW EXPECT MOISTURE TO INCREASE STEADILY FROM THE SOUTHEAST LATE
FRIDAY NITE AND SATURDAY...AS UPPER LOW STRENGTHENS TO OUR
SOUTH...AND MODELS ADVERTISE A POTENTIALLY IMPRESSIVE UPSLOPE
RAINFALL EVENT FOR OUR REGION. HOWEVER...AVN QPF NOT
IMPRESSIVE...BUT WILL GO WITH 40 POPS IN NORTHEAST
GEORGIA/UPSTATE/AND THE SOUTHERN TIER COUNTIES OF NORTH CAROLINA FOR
SATURDAY...WITH 30S FOR REMAINING AREAS TO THE NORTH AND WEST. IN
ACCORDANCE WITH MODEL GUIDANCE...WHICH FEATURES PROGD MAXES IN THE
70S FOR MOST AREAS...WILL HAVE A RANGE OF 70S NORTH...TO NEAR 80
SOUTH.

LONG RANGE PATTERN LOOKS UNCHANGED UNTIL MIDWEEK. NOGAPS...ECMWF AND
CANADIAN BEGIN WEAKENING CLOSED LOW TO AN OPEN WAVE BY MIDWEEK...AND
ATTEMPT TO HAVE THE WAVE INFILTRATE THE PERSISTENT UPPER
RIDGE...WITH A SURFACE BOUNDARY WORKING TOWARD THE MID ATLANTIC
STATES FROM THE NORTH. SOUTHEAST STATES WILL REMAIN MOIST...WARM AND
UNSTABLE...SO LONGER RANGE PERIODS FEATURE A CHANCE OF CONVECTION
EACH DAY.

FCSTID = 44
GSP   64  87  65  79 /  20  10  20  40
AND   64  88  65  79 /  20  10  20  40
CLT   64  87  65  79 /  10  10  20  40
HKY   62  85  64  75 /  10  10  10  30
AVL   58  84  58  76 /  20  20  20  30

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

BURRUS

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 20, 2:22 PM EDT, 2 hours 46 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

Local storm report, Jun 20, 2:57 PM EDT, 2 hours 11 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
257 PM EDT THU JUN 20 2002

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

240 PM     4 NW LEICESTER            NC   .75 INCH HAIL
06/20/02   BUNCOMBE                       SPOTTER REPORTED

JONES

Local storm report, Jun 20, 4:34 PM EDT, 34 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
434 PM EDT THU JUN 20 2002

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

420 PM     CHEROKEE                  NC   .75 INCH HAIL
06/20/02   SWAIN                          REPORTED BY COUNTY 911.

425 PM     BRYSON CITY               NC   WIND DAMAGE
06/20/02   SWAIN                          TREES DOWN

HANDEL

Local storm report, Jun 20, 5:08 PM EDT, 0 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
508 PM EDT THU JUN 20 2002

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

450 PM     OAK GROVE                 NC   1.50 INCH HAIL
06/20/02   MACON                          WALNUT SIZE HAIL REPORTED
                                          ON HWY 28.

HANDEL

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 20, 2:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Buncombe	45 min
Jun 20, 4:23 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Swain	37 min
Jun 20, 4:57 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Graham	48 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Carolina, 2002 Every 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.