Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 206, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

July 4, 2002Cabarrus County, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 4, 2002, 2:14 PM EDT for Cabarrus County, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. It was in force for 61 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 4, 2002, 2:14 PM EDT (18:14 UTC)
Expired
Jul 4, 2002, 3:15 PM EDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Cabarrus County, NC, Mecklenburg County, NC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 147 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:16 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 4, 2:20 PM EDTHail 0.88Harrisburg, NCReported on Highway 49.
Jul 4, 3:15 PM EDTHail 0.75Matthews, NC

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

Roanoke, VA (KRNK), launched 12:00Z, 6.2 hours before the alert went out and 235 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 2002-07-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 812 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, Roanoke, VA at 12:00Z on 2002-07-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 1 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
812 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-140 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1004 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
5 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.

085 
WUUS52 KGSP 041814
SVRGSP
NCC025-119-041915-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
214 PM EDT THU JUL 4 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL MECKLENBURG COUNTY IN THE PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA
  SOUTHERN CABARRUS COUNTY IN THE PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 315 PM EDT

* AT 214 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS 7 MILES SOUTH OF
  CONCORD...OR ABOUT 5 MILES EAST OF HARRISBURG...MOVING WEST AT 5
  MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  HARRISBURG AT 245 PM.
  NEWELL AT 315 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.

$$

NED/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 4, 11:10 AM EDT, 3 hours 4 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 4, 11:10 AM EDT, 3 hours 4 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1110 AM EDT THU JUL 4 2002

THE BROKEN RECORD CONTINUES OVER CWFA AS ENE FLOW AND H5 COLD TROF
REMAIN IN PLACE OVER THE REGION. GSO SOUNDING WAS NOT
AVAILABLE...BUT A MODIFIED RNK SOUNDING HAS A 3000 CAPE. THE WBZ IS
AGAIN AROUND 12KFT...THOUGH PULSE STORMS YDAY DID PRODUCE A FAIR
AMOUNT OF SMALL HAIL.

JUST LIKE YDAY...LEE TROUGH SUPERIMPOSED ON A LARGER SCALE LLVL
SYNOPTIC SCALE TROF WL RESULT IN MOISTURE CONVERGENCE FROM CENTRAL
VA INTO WRN NC. EXPECT TSRA TO DEVELOP IN HIGHER INSTABILITY TO OUR
N...THEN SLOWLY PUSH WSW. WL PUT SEVERE MENTION AND HEAVY RAIN IN
THE ZONES AGAIN TDA.

SOME AC OVER THE SW ZONES SHOULD DISSIPATE FAIRLY SOON...AND DON/T
EXPECT THIS TO HAVE MUCH EFFECT ON TEMPERATURES. IT WL PUSH
CONVECTIVE INITIATION A HOUR OR TWO.

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

MCAVOY

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 4, 11:35 AM EDT, 2 hours 39 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-042230-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1135 AM EDT THU JUL 4 2002

...SCATTERED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING...

THERE HAS BEEN LITTLE CHANGE IN THE AIRMASS OVER THE WESTERN
CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA SINCE YESTERDAY. ONCE
AGAIN...THUNDERSTORMS WILL INITIALLY DEVELOP OVER THE HIGHER
ELEVATIONS OF THE BLUE RIDGE IN THE EARLY AFTERNOON. LATER IN THE
DAY...THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP FARTHER TO THE EAST.

WHILE THE BEST CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE IN THE
MOUNTAINS...JUST ABOUT ANY LOCATION ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND
NORTHEAST GEORGIA HAS A CHANCE OF SEEING A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THUNDERSTORMS TODAY
WILL HAIL TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS AND DAMAGING WINDS.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL ONCE AGAIN BE SLOW MOVING. THIS WILL LIMIT
THE AREA AFFECTED BY DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL...BUT WILL RESULT IN A
FEW LOCATIONS SEEING EXCESSIVE RAINFALL. IN PARTICULAR...THE EASTERN
SLOPES OF THE BLUE RIDGE MAY SEE SOME LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING.

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

MCAVOY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 4, 3:26 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPMecklenburg, Union64 min
Jul 4, 4:05 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPMadison40 min
Jul 4, 4:39 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPBuncombe66 min
Jul 4, 5:30 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPDavie60 min
Jul 4, 5:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPGaston66 min
Jul 4, 5:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPIredell63 min
Jul 4, 5:58 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCaldwell62 min
Jul 4, 6:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCleveland61 min
Jul 4, 6:18 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPRowan57 min
Jul 4, 6:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPAlexander62 min
Jul 4, 6:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPRutherford56 min
Jul 4, 6:55 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCatawba65 min
Jul 4, 7:04 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPLincoln56 min
Jul 4, 7:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPRowan63 min
Jul 4, 7:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPPolk54 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.