Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

April 18, 2002Chester County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 18, 2002, 3:26 PM EDT for Chester County, South Carolina. It was in force for 34 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 18, 2002, 3:26 PM EDT (19:26 UTC)
Expired
Apr 18, 2002, 4:00 PM EDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Chester County, SC

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 18, 3:38 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50 EChester, SCA few trees were blown down.

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

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 7.4 hours before the alert went out and 192 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 2002-04-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 8 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 2002-04-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -10 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
8 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-236 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1788 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
0 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 181926
SVRGSP
SCC023-182000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
326 PM EDT THU APR 18 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 400 PM EDT

* AT 326 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS 8 MILES SOUTHEAST
  OF CHESTER...OR ABOUT 6 MILES NORTHEAST OF CORNWELL...MOVING EAST
  AT 10 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  RICHBURG AT 340 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.

$$

RWH

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 18, 2:39 PM EDT, 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 18, 2:39 PM EDT, 47 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
239 PM EDT THU APR 18 2002

SCATTERED SHOWERS ONCE AGAIN DEVELOPING ACROSS MOUNTAIN ZONES THIS
AFTERNOON...BUT WITH LESS COVERAGE/INTENSITY THAN OBSERVED
YESTERDAY. CONDITIONS NEVERTHELESS REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR ISOLATED
HAILERS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. WILL CARRY CHANCE POPS THROUGH
THE EVENING IN THE MOUNTAINS AND NC FOOTHILLS...BUT MENTION ONLY
ISOLATED TSRA ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA. EAST COAST RIDGE
WILL CONTINUE TO BE ATTACKED BY SERIES OF SW TROUGHS...RESULTING IN
SOME FLATTENING OF THE RIDGE BY THE WEEKEND. TOMORROW LOOKS LIKE
ALMOST A CARBON COPY OF TODAY...WITH WEAKENING SWS RIDING OVER THE
RIDGE...WEAK UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE...AND SOME AFTERNOON BL
CONVERGENCE IN VICINITY OF LEE TROUGH. WILL ONCE AGAIN MENTION
CHANCE POPS IN THE MOUNTAINS AND NC FOOTHILLS...WITH A SILENT 20
ELSEWHERE.

RAIN CHANCES IMPROVE SOME ON SATURDAY...AS WEAKENING RIDGE ALLOWS
FRONTAL BOUNDARY TO SAG SOUTHWARD TOWARD THE AREA. NOT CONVINCED
THAT MODELS ARE NOT OVERDOING HEIGHT FALLS ALONG EAST COAST...PLUS
FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL BE BATTLING VERY STRONG MIXING TO ITS SOUTH.
THUS...WILL RAISE TEMPS ON SATURDAY IN ANTICIPATION OF A SLOWER
FRONTAL MOVEMENT THAN ADVERTISED BY THE MODELS. IN FACT...WOULD NOT
BE SURPRISED TO SEE FRONT HANG TO OUR NORTH UNTIL STRONG NORTHERN
STREAM SW NUDGES BOUNDARY THROUGH THE AREA SUNDAY NIGHT/MONDAY.
NEVERTHELESS...WILL CONTINUE TO SHOTGUN CHANCE POPS FOR THE ENTIRE
AREA SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT...WITH 40S NORTH AND 30S SOUTH.
WILL LINGER PRECIP ACROSS SOUTHERN ZONES INTO MONDAY. DRIER AND
COOLER AIRMASS FINALLY FILTERS IN BEHIND FRONT FOR TUESDAY AND
WEDNESDAY.

MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ADVERTISE ANOTHER FRONT FOR THE EAST COAST FOR
WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY TIMEFRAME. HOWEVER...WILL HOLD OFF ON
INTRODUCING PRECIP AT THIS TIME...AS ENSEMBLE GUIDANCE POPS REMAIN
VERY LOW

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

LANE

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 18, 11:45 AM EDT, 3 hours 41 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-182000-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1145 AM EDT THU APR 18 2002

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

WEATHER CONDITIONS THIS AFTERNOON WILL BE QUITE SIMILAR TO
YESTERDAY...WHEN AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED...AND A FEW
PRODUCED LARGE HAIL. THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BECOME QUITE UNSTABLE AGAIN
THIS AFTERNOON...WITH PLENTY OF MOISTURE IN PLACE NEAR THE
SURFACE...AND QUITE COOL AIR ALOFT. ALTHOUGH THE COVERAGE OF STORMS
THIS AFTERNOON IS EXPECTED TO BE SIMILAR TO WEDNESDAY...THE
INTENSITY OF THE STORMS MAY BE A BIT STRONGER.

THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE LARGE HAIL...FROM DIME TO GOLF BALL SIZED IN
DIAMETER...AND PERHAPS A CHANCE OF LOCALIZED WIND DAMAGE. ALSO...
VERY WEAK WIND FLOW THROUGHOUT THE ATMOSPHERE WILL CAUSE STORMS TO
MOVE VERY SLOWLY...CAUSING LOCAL ACCUMULATIONS OF HAIL. THERE WILL
ALSO BE SOME POTENTIAL FOR FLASH FLOODING...ESPECIALLY IN URBAN
AREAS.

THE BEST CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED IN THE WESTERN AND
SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CAROLINA...NORTHEAST GEORGIA...AND THE
WESTERN TWO THIRDS OF UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA. A LARGE SCALE SEVERE
WEATHER OUTBREAK IS NOT EXPECTED...BUT THERE COULD BE A FEW SEVERE
STORMS AROUND.

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

MOORE

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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.