Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 231, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

July 22, 2002Swain County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 22, 2002, 3:26 PM EDT for Swain County, North Carolina. It was in force for 64 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
Jul 22, 2002, 3:26 PM EDT (19:26 UTC)
Expired
Jul 22, 2002, 4:30 PM EDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Swain County, NC

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:29 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 22, 3:35 PM EDTHail 0.75Cherokee, 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

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 7.4 hours before the alert went out and 253 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2002-07-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 725 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2002-07-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 8 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
725 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-58 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
658 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
18 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.

596 
WUUS52 KGSP 221926
SVRGSP
NCC173-222030-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
326 PM EDT MON JUL 22 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SWAIN COUNTY IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 430 PM EDT

* AT 326 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF SYLVA...OR ABOUT 3 MILES SOUTH OF
  CHEROKEE...MOVING WEST AT 10 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  CHEROKEE AT 330 PM EDT.
  BRYSON CITY AT 355 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.

$$

JONES/HANDEL

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 22, 2:18 PM EDT, 1 hour 8 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 22, 2:18 PM EDT, 1 hour 8 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
218 PM EDT MON JUL 22 2002

COLD FRONT APPROACHING FROM NORTHWEST TUE NIGHT PROGGED TO HANG UP
IN NC MTS FOR SEVERAL DAYS THEN FIZZLING BY SATURDAY. LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE INCREASES TUE AND WED COINCIDING WITH APPROACHING
FRONT...PERSISTING THRU SATURDAY. VORTICITY INCREASES TUE...THEN A
STRONG VORT MAX OVER CWA BY WED EVE. MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT FOR
SCATTERED SHWRS AND STORMS EVERY AFTN AND EVE THRU SAT. SILENT 20S
FOR SUN AND MON WITH ONLY MARGINAL INSTABILITY AND MOISTURE.

SLIGHT WARMING TREND THROUGH THE WEEK DUE TO DECREASING CLOUD COVER
AS FRONT DISSIPATES. LOWER 90S MOST PIEDMONT AND FOOTHILL LOCATIONS
BY END OF THE WEEK.
FCSTID =
GSP   71  90  72  87 /  40  50  50  50
AND   71  90  72  87 /  40  50  50  50
CLT   70  90  72  88 /  50  50  50  50
HKY   69  87  70  86 /  50  50  50  50
AVL   64  84  67  83 /  40  50  40  50

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

LAMB/DICARLO

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 22, 11:10 AM EDT, 4 hours 16 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-222100-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1110 AM EDT MON JUL 22 2002

...SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

WARM MOIST AIR OVER THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA WILL
SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PERSIST INTO THE EVENING. CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR A FEW OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS TO BECOME SEVERE...
PRODUCING DAMAGING WIND. LARGE HAIL IS POSSIBLE...BUT TO A LESSER
EXTENT. THE GREATEST CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE IN NORTHEAST
GEORGIA AND UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA OUTLET FOR
THE LATEST UPDATES CONCERNING THIS POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER
SITUATION.

RWH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 22, 4:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCabarrus46 min
Jul 22, 5:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPUnion46 min
Jul 22, 7:46 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCleveland, Rutherford44 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.