Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 172, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

July 2, 2002Macon County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 2, 2002, 1:53 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
Jul 2, 2002, 1:53 PM EDT (17:53 UTC)
Expired
Jul 2, 2002, 2:30 PM EDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Macon County, NC

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 2, 2:00 PM EDTHail 1Scaly, NCHail damaged at least one vehicle.

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, 5.9 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2002-07-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2133 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 2002-07-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -12 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
2133 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-51 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
913 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
2 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
29 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.

803 
WUUS52 KGSP 021753
SVRGSP
NCC113-021830-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
152 PM EDT TUE JUL 2 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 230 PM EDT

* AT 152 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM 10 MILES NORTHEAST OF CLAYTON...OR ABOUT OVER SCALY...
  NEAR THE GEORGIA BORDER...MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 10 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  SCALY AT 155 PM EDT.
  OTTO AT 210 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.

$$
07

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 2, 10:38 AM EDT, 3 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 2, 10:38 AM EDT, 3 hours 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1038 AM EDT TUE JUL 2 2002

TDA LOOKS VERY SIMILAR TO YDAY. GSO AND RNK SOUNDINGS SHOW -10 DEG
H5 TEMPS...AND ORIENTATION OF THE H5 COLD TROF IS ONCE AGAIN RIGHT
OVER THE CWA. THETA-E DIFFERENCES ARE NOT QUITE AS HIGH TDA...BUT
STILL ON THE ORDER OF 20 TO 25 DEG. CAPE VALUES WL AGAIN BE AROUND
3000 THIS AFTERNOON. MID LEVEL FLOW IS A LITTLE STRONGER OUT OF THE
NE TDA...AND SFC FLOW DOES NOT HAVE THE SWLY COMPONENT THAT IT DID
YDAY. THIS SHOULD RESULT IN A LITTLE MORE RAPID STORM MOVEMENT THAN
YDAY.

LLVL MOISTURE CONVERGENCE IS WEAKER THAN IT WAS YDAY...BUT THE 12
UTC ETA ONCE AGAIN DEVELOPS GOOD CONVERGENCE OVER THE MTNS AND
FOOTHILLS THROUGH THE AFTERNOON.

THUS...COVERAGE MAY BE A LITTLE LESS THAN YDAY...BUT NOT BY MUCH.
HIGHER POPS W LOOK GOOD...AND DON/T PLAN TO MAKE ANY BIG CHANGES IN
THE ZONES OTHER THAN MINOR TWEAKS IN GFE.

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

MCAVOY

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 2, 1:50 PM EDT, 3 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-030230-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
150 PM EDT TUE JUL 2 2002

...SCATTERED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP OVER THE REGION AGAIN
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

THE ATMOSPHERE OVER THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA HAS
ONCE AGAIN BECOME VERY UNSTABLE THIS AFTERNOON. AT 130 PM
THUNDERSTORMS...SOME SEVERE...WERE ALREADY DEVELOPING OVER THE
EASTERN ESCARPMENT OF THE BLUE RIDGE. DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE THE
PRIMARY THREAT FROM THE STORMS...THOUGH THE STRONGEST CELLS COULD
PRODUCE HAIL UP TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER.

AS THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS PROGRESS...THUNDERSTORMS
WILL ALSO DEVELOP FARTHER EAST. JUST ABOUT ANY LOCATION EAST OF THE
MOUNTAINS WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO SEE A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM LATER
IN THE AFTERNOON...THOUGH LOCATIONS WITHIN ABOUT 50 MILES OF THE
MOUNTAINS WILL BE MOST AT RISK.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL DRIFT SLOWLY TO THE SOUTHWEST. SIMILAR TO
YESTERDAY...A FEW LOCATIONS WILL SEE SEVERAL INCHES OF RAIN IN A
SHORT PERIOD OF TIME...AND SOME ISOLATED FLASH FLOODING PROBLEMS MAY
DEVELOP.

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

FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION...CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT
HTTP://WWW.NWS.NOAA.GOV/ER/GSP

MCAVOY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 2, 2:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPBuncombe49 min
Jul 2, 3:37 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPBuncombe38 min
Jul 2, 4:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPMadison39 min
Jul 2, 5:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPMadison42 min
Jul 2, 5:33 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPAvery57 min
Jul 2, 6:08 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPMecklenburg52 min
Jul 2, 6:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPSwain66 min
Jul 2, 6:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPMcDowell60 min
Jul 2, 7:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPGaston, Mecklenburg58 min
Jul 2, 7:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPRutherford55 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.