Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 20, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

April 17, 2002Laurens County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 17, 2002, 7:21 PM EDT for Laurens County, South Carolina. It was in force for 24 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: Apr 17, 2002, 7:21 PM EDT (23:21 UTC)
Expired: Apr 17, 2002, 7:45 PM EDT
In force: 24 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Laurens County, SC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 49 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:23 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
Apr 17, 7:30 PM EDT	Hail 1	Clinton, SC

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

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 256 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: 555 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -45 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 708 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 28 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 172321
SVRGSP
SCC059-172345-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
721 PM EDT WED APR 17 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN LAURENS COUNTY IN UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 745 PM EDT

* AT 721 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS 8 MILES EAST OF
  LAURENS...OR ABOUT OVER CLINTON...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  JOANNA AT 730 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.

$$
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 Apr 17, 2:51 PM EDT, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 17, 2:51 PM EDT, 4 hours 30 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
251 PM EDT WED APR 17 2002

SCATTERED SHRA/TSRA CONTINUE ACROSS WESTERN CAROLINA MOUNTAINS/NC
FOOTHILLS. MORE INTENSE STORMS HAVE PRODUCED SEVERE HAIL.
MEANWHILE...VERY SLOW MOVEMENT HAS RESULTED IN LOCALLY HEAVY
RAINFALL.  WILL CARRY CHANCE POPS AREA-WIDE THROUGH THE
EVENING...BUT END PRECIP AROUND SUNSET...AS CURRENT ACTIVITY IS
LARGELY DRIVEN BY TERRAIN/DIFFERENTIAL HEATING. ACTIVITY IS LIKELY
BEING ENHANCED BY A WEAK SW TROUGH RIDING UP OVER THE MID/UPPER
LEVEL RIDGE. BUT EXPECT THIS TO BECOME LESS OF A FACTOR WITH
TIME...AS IT CONTINUES TO SHEAR OUT.

COULD BE A REPEAT PERFORMANCE TOMORROW AFTERNOON...AS ANOTHER
SHEARING WAVE APPROACHES THE AREA FROM THE TENNESSEE VALLEY. AT THIS
TIME...WILL CARRY CHANCE POPS IN THE MOUNTAINS...LEAVING SILENT 20S
EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE. EXPECT ANOTHER ROUND OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS FRIDAY AFTERNOON...BUT EXPECT ONLY ISOLATED COVERAGE
AT THIS TIME AND WILL LEAVE SILENT 20S ALONE FOR NOW.

BETTER CHANCES FOR PRECIP SATURDAY...AS FRONTAL BOUNDARY SAGS
SOUTHWARD INTO THE AREA. AVN THEN STALLS THE BOUNDARY THROUGH
SUNDAY. WILL SHOTGUN CHANCE POPS ACROSS THE ENTIRE CWA SATURDAY
THROUGH SUNDAY. MUCH UNCERTAINTY REMAINS ABOUT THE EVOLUTION OF
FRONTAL BOUNDARY DAYS 5-7. MRF MORE OR LESS WASHES IT OUT SOUTH OF
THE CAROLINAS DURING THIS PERIOD. WILL LEAVE MON-WED DRY AT THIS
TIME.

FCSTID = 4
GSP   61  85  61  86 /  30  20  20  20
AND   61  85  61  86 /  30  20  20  20
CLT   61  86  61  86 /  30  20  20  20
HKY   58  82  58  82 /  40  20  20  20
AVL   55  80  56  81 /  40  30  20  20

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

LANE

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 17, 2:47 PM EDT, 4 hours 34 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
247 PM EDT WED APR 17 2002

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

233 PM     BRINDLETOWN               NC   1.75 INCH HAIL
04/17/01   BURKE                          REPORT FROM FIRE CHIEF
                                          RELAYED BY COUNTY EOC

HANDEL

Local storm report, Apr 17, 2:47 PM EDT, 4 hours 34 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
247 PM EDT WED APR 17 2002

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

233 PM     BRINDLETOWN               NC   1.75 INCH HAIL
04/17/02   BURKE                          REPORT FROM FIRE CHIEF
                                          RELAYED BY COUNTY EOC

HANDEL

Local storm report, Apr 17, 4:25 PM EDT, 2 hours 56 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
425 PM EDT WED APR 17 2002

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

110 PM     CONNESTEE                 NC   .75 INCH HAIL
04/17/02   TRANSYLVANIA                   HAIL ACCUMULATED UP TO
                                          DEPTH OF 1.5 FEET ON PART
                                          OF GOLF COURSE.

RRH

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 17, 5:16 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Cherokee, Spartanburg	29 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South 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.