Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 191, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

July 3, 2002Spartanburg County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 3, 2002, 5:35 PM EDT for Spartanburg County, South Carolina. It was in force for 55 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 3, 2002, 5:35 PM EDT (21:35 UTC)
Expired
Jul 3, 2002, 6:30 PM EDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Spartanburg County, SC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 22 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:36 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 228 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 2002-07-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 429 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 2002-07-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 5 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
429 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-175 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1263 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
39 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 032135
SVRGSP
SCC083-032230-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
535 PM EDT WED JUL 3 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN SPARTANBURG COUNTY IN UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 630 PM EDT

* AT 535 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM 13 MILES NORTHEAST OF LAURENS...OR ABOUT 4 MILES   
SOUTHEAST OF CROSS ANCHOR.  THE STORM WAS MOVING WEST AT 5 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  CROSS ANCHOR AT 610 PM.
  ENOREE AT 630 PM.

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.

$$

TOMKO/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 3, 3:45 PM EDT, 1 hour 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 3, 3:45 PM EDT, 1 hour 50 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
345 PM EDT WED JUL 3 2002

WATCH BOX IS FILLING IN NICELY WITH CONVECTION ATTM. WENT CAT POPS
MTNS...LIKELY FOOTHILLS AND CHANCE IN THE PIEDMONT FOR THIS EVENING.
CONVECTION IS DEVELOPING IN AN AREA OF LLVL MOISTURE CONVERGENCE
WHICH EXTENDS FROM CENTRAL VA SW TO THE UPSTATE. THIS IS IN RESPONSE
TO UPPER LOW OVER EASTERN NC WHICH HAS HELPED TO SHARPEN SFC TROF
OVER THE REGION.

SUSPECT THAT CONVECTION OVER VA WL CONTINUE TO FILL IN ALONG THE LEE
TROF AND EVENTUALLY START MOVING MORE RAPIDLY TO THE SW AS H5 WINDS
INCREASE AT LITTLE BY 00 UTC. EVEN IF THE MCS SCENARIO DOES NOT PAN
OUT...CONVECTION FIRED FOR SEVERAL HOURS LAST NGHT ON OUTFLOW
BNDRYS...AND EXPECT SIMILAR BEHAVIOR TNGT.

JULY 4TH REALLY DOESN/T LOOK MUCH DIFFERENT FROM TDA. WL START W/40
POPS IN THE MTNS AND THE FOOTHILLS AND 30S FARTHER EAST...BUT
WOULDN/T BE SURPRISED IF WE HAVE TO UP THE POPS AGAIN IN THE AFTN.

ON FRI SFC FRONT WL FALL ACROSS THE NRN HALF OF THE CWA. UPPER
SUPPORT IS STILL WEAK...AND WE ARE UNDER NVA UNTIL THE EARLY
EVENING...BUT MOISTURE POOLING ALONG THE FRONT SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT
FOR MORE SCT TSRA.

EXTENDED...
SUN...AVN KEEPS SFC BOUNDARY WITHIN THE CWA WITH SUBZERO LIS AND
HOT AND HUMID AIRMASS IN PLACE. BELIEVE THAT THERE WILL BE SOME TS
IN THE CWA BUT QUESTION REMAINS ABOUT FRONTAL PLACEMENT AS AVN IS
CHANGING WITH EACH RUN. HEIGHTS FALL ON MON BRINGING SOME UPPER
SUPPORT AND WILL INTRODUCE CHC POPS FOR CONVECTION. TUES FROPA
BEGINS TO TAKE PLACE WITH AVN BACKING OFF OF CAA IT WAS ADVERTISING
ON THE 02.00Z RUN. FRONT HAS A HARD TIME MOVING SOUTH AND IS STILL
IN THE AREA WED AND WILL EXTEND POPS INTO WEDS. LITTLE CHANGE IN
TEMPS WILL TREND WED TEMPS DOWN A CLICK FROM TUES VALUES.

FCSTID =
GSP   70  93  70  93 /  50  30  30  30
AND   70  93  70  93 /  40  30  30  30
CLT   67  93  68  93 /  50  30  30  40
HKY   68  91  69  92 /  60  30  30  40
AVL   66  87  66  89 /  80  40  40  40

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

MCAVOY/NED

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 3, 12:15 PM EDT, 5 hours 20 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-032300-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1215 PM EDT WED JUL 3 2002

...SCATTERED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN TO DEVELOP
OVER THE REGION AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

SIMILAR TO THE PAST COUPLE DAYS...A MOIST LOW LEVEL AIRMASS...AND A
DRIER...COOLER AIRMASS ALOFT...WILL RESULT IN THUNDERSTORM
DEVELOPMENT THIS AFTERNOON OVER THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST
GEORGIA. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING
DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL UP TO ONE INCH IN DIAMETER.

WHILE THE ATMOSPHERE IS A LITTLE MORE STABLE TODAY...AN UPPER LEVEL
LOW WILL CROSS THE REGION FROM THE EAST DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON
AND EARLY EVENING. THIS WILL HELP TO ORGANIZE THE STORMS AND ENHANCE
THE POTENTIAL FOR DAMAGING WINDS...ESPECIALLY IN THE MOUNTAINS AND
FOOTHILLS OF NORTH CAROLINA WHERE THE INSTABILITY WILL BE GREATER.

THE STORMS WILL ONCE AGAIN BE SLOW MOVING. THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR
SOME OF THE STRONGER STORMS TO PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN. AS PARTS
OF THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS HAVE SEEN SEVERAL INCHES OF RAIN OVER
THE PAST WEEK...THE POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED FLASH FLOODING WILL BE A
LITTLE HIGHER THAN IT HAS BEEN OVER THE PAST FEW DAYS.

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
Local storm report, Jul 3, 4:36 PM EDT, 59 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
436 PM EDT WED JUL 03 2002

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

421 PM     1 W ROCK HILL             SC   WIND DAMAGE
07/03/02   YORK                           SEVERAL TREES DOWN ON
                                          SALUDA RD AND STRAIGHT
                                          RD. ALSO PEA SIZE HAIL.
                                          REPORTED BY YORK EOC.

420 PM     CHESTER                   SC   WIND DAMAGE
07/03/02   CHESTER                        TREE DOWN ON HWY 97 NEAR
                                          HOSPITAL. REPORTED BY
                                          CHESTER EC.

LAMB
Local storm report, Jul 3, 5:27 PM EDT, 8 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
527 PM EDT WED JUL 03 2002

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

520 PM     LOCKHART                  SC   WIND DAMAGE
07/03/02   UNION                          TREES DOWN INCLUDING ONE
                                          ON A HOUSE. REPORTED BY
                                          EOC.

MCAVOY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 3, 4:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPChester, York63 min
Jul 3, 5:07 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPLaurens53 min
Jul 3, 5:24 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPUnion66 min
Jul 3, 5:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPAnderson63 min
Jul 3, 6:42 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPGreenville63 min
Jul 3, 6:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPSpartanburg61 min
Jul 3, 6:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPAbbeville, Greenwood63 min
Jul 3, 7:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPAnderson60 min
Jul 3, 7:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPLaurens56 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.