Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 153, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

July 1, 2002Rabun County, Georgia

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 1, 2002, 1:49 PM EDT for Rabun County, Georgia. It was in force for 56 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: Jul 1, 2002, 1:49 PM EDT (17:49 UTC)
Expired: Jul 1, 2002, 2:45 PM EDT
In force: 56 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Rabun County, GA

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 108 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:49 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
Jul 1, 2:40 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Clayton, GA	Several trees were blown down at Lake Rabun.
Jul 1, 2:40 PM EDT	Hail 0.75	Clayton, GA

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, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 196 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: 1309 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -89 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1046 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 25 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 32 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 011749
SVRGSP
GAC241-011845-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
148 PM EDT MON JUL 1 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 245 PM EDT

* AT 147 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM 9 MILES EAST OF CLAYTON...OR ABOUT 3 MILES WEST OF
  PINE MOUNTAIN...MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 15 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  SKY VALLEY AT 155 PM EDT.
  DILLARD AT 205 PM EDT.
  MOUNTAIN CITY AT 210 PM EDT.
  CLAYTON AT 215 PM EDT.
  TIGER AT 225 PM EDT.

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/LAMB

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 Jul 1, 11:20 AM EDT, 2 hours 29 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 1, 11:20 AM EDT, 2 hours 29 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1120 AM EDT MON JUL 1 2002

AFTER A LITTLE MORE CONSIDERATION...WL RAISE POPS TO 40 ACROSS THE
UPSTATE...FOOTHILLS AND MOUNTAINS. MCV CURRENTLY OVER WV WL DROP
INTO THE NRN ZONES THIS EVENING WHICH SHOULD HELP TO ORGANIZE STORMS
A LITTLE MORE THAN ORIGINALLY THOUGHT.

FCSTID = 14
GSP   91  70  92  70 /  40  40  30  20
AND   91  70  93  70 /  40  40  30  20
CLT   90  70  92  70 /  30  20  30  20
HKY   88  68  90  69 /  30  20  30  20
AVL   85  65  86  65 /  40  40  30  20

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

MCAVOY

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 1, 11:10 AM EDT, 2 hours 39 minutes before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-012200-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1110 AM EDT MON JUL 1 2002

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS
EVENING...

THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BECOME VERY UNSTABLE AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON AS
DAYTIME HEATING BECOMES STRONG.  MORNING ANALYSIS INDICATED THAT
AMPLE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WAS IN PLACE...AND THE UPPER LEVELS OF THE
ATMOSPHERE WERE QUITE COOL FOR THE SEASON.

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS COULD BEGIN TO DEVELOP IN THE
MOUNTAINS AROUND NOON.  THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT WILL START IN
FOOTHILL AND PIEDMONT SECTIONS A BIT LATER...WITH PEAK DEVELOPMENT
SOUTH AND EAST OF THE MOUNTAINS DURING LATE AFTERNOON AND THIS
EVENING.

ANY STORMS TODAY COULD BECOME STRONG...WITH FREQUENT INTENSE
LIGHTNING...GUSTY WINDS...SMALL HAIL...AND EXTREMELY HEAVY
RAINFALL.  BECAUSE OF THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF STORMS...LOCAL FLOODING
IS POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY IF STORMS DEVELOP OVER URBAN AREAS.
SEVERE URBAN FLOODING DEVELOPED YESTERDAY IN PARTS OF
GREENVILLE...REQUIRING A FLASH FLOOD WARNING. SIMILAR STORMS AND
RAINFALL AMOUNTS COULD OCCUR AGAIN LATE TODAY OR THIS
EVENING...AFFECTING ANY URBAN OR LOW FLOOD PRONE AREA.

SOME STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE AGAIN TODAY...WITH LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS.  STORMS YESTERDAY CAUSED A NUMBER OF REPORTS OF DIME
TO NICKEL SIZE HAIL...AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS WHICH DOWNED TREES AND
POWER LINES.

ALTHOUGH A SEVERE STORM COULD DEVELOP ANYWHERE IN THE FORECAST
AREA...THE BEST CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND
THIS EVENING WILL AGAIN BE ALONG THE INTERSTATE 85 CORRIDOR IN SOUTH
CAROLINA.  THERE ARE SOME INDICATIONS THERE COULD BE AN INCREASED
THREAT LATER IN THE EVENING...IN PARTS OF THE NORTH CAROLINA
NORTHERN FOOTHILLS AND NORTHERN PIEDMONT.

STORM SPOTTERS SHOULD BE ALERT TO LATER STATEMENTS AND
WARNINGS...AND BE PREPARED TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER OR FLOODING
USING NORMAL SKYWARN PROCEDURES.

JONES

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 1, 3:38 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Habersham	52 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 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.