Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 225, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

July 10, 2002Greenville County, Pickens County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 10, 2002, 5:07 PM EDT for Greenville County, Pickens County, South Carolina. It was in force for 53 min. 3 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 10, 2002, 5:07 PM EDT (21:07 UTC)
Expired: Jul 10, 2002, 6:00 PM EDT
In force: 53 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

Counties Greenville County, SC, Pickens County, SC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 30 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:11 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
Jul 10, 5:12 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Easley, SC	Trees and powerlines were blown down.
Jul 10, 5:25 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Greenville, SC	Trees and powerlines were blown down. At least one tree fell on a vehicle.
Jul 10, 5:35 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Simpsonville, SC	Large tree limbs 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

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 247 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: 521 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -62 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 849 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 11 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.

772 
WUUS52 KGSP 102107
SVRGSP
SCC045-077-102200-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
505 PM EDT WED JUL 10 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  GREENVILLE COUNTY IN UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA   
  EAST PICKENS COUNTY IN UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 600 PM EDT

* AT 505 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS 10 MILES WEST OF
  GREENVILLE...OR ABOUT 5 MILES WEST OF WELCOME...MOVING EAST AT 25
  MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  WELCOME AT 510 PM EDT.
  TRAVELERS REST AT 515 PM EDT.
  PARIS MOUNTAIN STATE PARK AT 520 PM EDT.
  GREENVILLE AT 525 PM EDT.
  TAYLORS AT 530 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.

$$

BPM/NED

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 10, 3:26 PM EDT, 1 hour 41 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 10, 3:26 PM EDT, 1 hour 41 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
326 PM EDT WED JUL 10 2002

AT 19Z...SYNOPTIC SCALE SFC BNDRY LOOKS TO BE ACRS SRN KY WITH SVRL
SMALLER SCALE BNDRYS LOCATED SE OF THIS FEATURE. TSTMS WILL CONTINUE
TO FORM ALONG THESE AFOREMENTIONED FEATURES THRU THE EVENING. LOOKS
LIKE AN ISOLATED PULSE SVR THREAT WILL CONTINUE THRU EARLY EVENING
AS WE WAIT FOR SYNOPTIC SCALE BNDRY OVER SRN KY ATTM...TO SINK SWD.

SOME DIFFERENCES STILL EXIST WRT TIMING OF THE SOUTHWARD MOVEMENT OF
COLD FRONT ACRS THE CWFA...WITH AVN STILL ABT 6 OR SO HRS LATER WITH
WIND SHIFT & HAVE GENERALLY FOLLOWED THIS SOLUTION. BASED OF CVRG OF
DIURNALLY FIRED DEEP CONVECTION ALONG WITH ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT
ALONG LLVL BNDRYS ...PROBABLY CAN GET AWAY WITH LIKELYS EVERYWHERE
FOR THE 12 HR POP FOR TONIGHT...BUT WILL FINE TUNE THIS CLOSER TO
ZFP RELEASE TIME. ALL MDLS STILL IN REASONABLE AGREEMENT WRT TO
LOCATION OF HEAVIEST PCPN...ALONG & EAST OF VORT EMBEDDED IN NW
FLOW...MAINLY EAST OF THE CWFA.

ON THURSDAY...STILL UNCERTAIN ON HOW FAR SW LLVL DRY AIR ADVECTS
IN WAKE OF FRONT...BUT CONSENSUS FCST IS ADVERTISING MOST IF NOT
ALL OF CWFA REMAINING UNDER A CONSIDERABLE AMNT OF LLVL RH THRU
THE DAY...WITH EVEN AVN GENERATING PCPN AS FAR NORTH AS MY NORTHERN
NC TIER. SO PLAN ON KEEPING CHC POPS GOING...WHICH IS IN GOOD
AGREEMENT WITH MRX/RNK ZONES. A SIMILAR DILEMMA ARISES FOR FRIDAY
AS A STRGR NORTHERN STREAM S/WV DIVES SE TOWARD THE CWFA...
DEVELOPING/ENHANCING WAVE ALONG OLD FRONTAL BNDRY.

THE COMBINATION OF LARGE SCALE LIFT OUT AHEAD OF THE UPPER WAVE &
INCREASED LLVL UPGLIDE/UPSLOPE FLOW SHOULD NOTABLY INCREASE PCPN
CVRG ACRS THE REGION. BUT AGAIN...THE DEGREE OF LLVL DRY AIR WEDGED
INTO THE CWFA REMAINS UNCERTAIN...WITH AVN ONCE AGAIN MORE
AGGRESSIVE IN SPREADING PCPN BACK NWD ACRS THE CWFA. WILL CONTINUE
TO FOLLOW THIS TREND WHICH SUPPORTS THE GOING FCST & IS IN GOOD
AGREEMENT WITH ADJACENT ZONES.

LTL CHANGE IN THE SYNOPTIC PATTERN FOR SATURDAY WITH A COMBO
OF UVVS FROM NORTHERN STREAM WAVE & SE LLVL FLOW KEEPING CHC
FOR PCPN GOING CWFA WIDE. UPPER PATTERN ACRS THE SE US WILL
GRADUALLY TRANSITION BACK TO TYPICAL SUMMERTIME REGIME THRU DAYS
4-7 WITH SW FLOW ALOFT GIVING WAY TO BERMUDA HIGH PRESSURE.

FCSTID = 55
GSP   71  83  67  81 /  50  30  30  40
AND   71  85  68  82 /  50  30  30  40
CLT   70  82  66  80 /  50  30  30  30
HKY   68  80  64  79 /  50  20  20  30
AVL   66  78  63  78 /  50  30  30  40

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

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 10, 2:10 PM EDT, 2 hours 57 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
210 PM EDT WED JUL 10 2002

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

205 PM     HARTWELL                  GA   .88 INCH HAIL
07/10/02   HART                           NICKEL SIZED HAIL
                                          REPORTED BY COUNTY 911 ON
                                          SOUTHEAST SIDE OF TOWN.

HANDEL

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 10, 5:37 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Spartanburg	53 min
Jul 10, 6:38 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Anderson	67 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.