Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 238, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 23, 2002, 8:38 PM EDT for Oconee County, South Carolina. It was in force for 37 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 23, 2002, 8:38 PM EDT (00:38 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 23, 2002, 9:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 37 min
- Issued by
- NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Oconee County, SC
The radar
The Greer radar (KGSP), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:42 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 23, 8:40 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 55 E | Seneca, SC | Large trees, up to 30 inches in diameter and 40 feet tall, 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 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 203 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1873 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -28 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 744 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 15 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 48 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 93 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
515 WUUS52 KGSP 240038 SVRGSP SCC073-240115- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 837 PM EDT TUE JUL 23 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN OCONEE COUNTY IN UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA * UNTIL 915 PM EDT * AT 837 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF CLEMSON...OR ABOUT 4 MILES NORTHEAST OF SENECA...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 5 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... SENECA AT 840 PM EDT. TOWNVILLE AT 915 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. $$ MCAVOY/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 23, 2:57 PM EDT, 5 hours 41 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 23, 2:57 PM EDT, 5 hours 41 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 257 PM EDT TUE JUL 23 2002 SHEAR AXIS AND ASSOCIATED COLD POOL TO REMAIN OVER THE SOUTHEAST FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL DAYS...BUT WILL WEAKEN WITH TIME BEFORE BECOMING PHASED WITH DEVELOPING EAST COAST TROUGH BY LATE WEEK. WIDESPREAD CONVECTION HAS DEVELOPED THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS THE NC MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS. THERE IS ALSO GOOD COVERAGE WITHIN INSTABILITY AXIS ACROSS OUR EASTERN PIEDMONT COUNTIES. A DECISION ON FIRST PERIOD POP WILL BE MADE AT THE LAST SECOND...BUT CURRENT PLAN IS TO CARRY A CATEGORIAL POP FOR THIS EVENING ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS...AND HIGH CHANCE TO LIKELY EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE. COVERAGE WILL DECREASE CONSIDERABLY WITH LOSS OF HEATING...BUT WITH THIS VERY JUICY AIRMASS...CANNOT RULE OUT SOME OVERNIGHT SHOWERS...AND WILL CARRY A CHANCE POP PAST THE EVENING PERIOD. MODELS CONTINUE TO INDICATE THAT FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL HANG UP NORTH AND WEST OF THE WESTERN CAROLINAS TONIGHT INTO TOMORROW...AS EAST COAST TROUGH CONTINUES TO DEAMPLIFY. HOWEVER...SHEAR AXIS LINGERS WHILE ATMOSPHERE REMAINS QUITE MOIST...AND EXPECT ANOTHER ROUND OF SCATTERED TO FAIRLY WIDESPREAD CONVECTION TOMORROW AFTERNOON. HAVE OPTED TO BUMP MOUNTAINS POPS TO LIKELY...WHILE HANGING ON TO HIGH CHANCE ACROSS THE PIEDMONT AND FOOTHILLS. FLOW BEGINS TO AMPLIFY BY THURSDAY...AS WEAK SHORTWAVE TROUGHS INDUCE HEIGHT FALLS ALONG THE EAST COAST. THIS SHOULD GIVE THE FRONT A NUDGE CLOSER TO OUR FORECAST AREA...AND WILL CONTINUE A SOLID CHANCE POP. WILL CONTINUE TREND OF TAPERING POPS BACK FOR FRIDAY AND SATURDAY...AS MEAN TROUGH AXIS SHIFTS SLIGHTLY EAST OF THE AREA... ALLOWING DRIER AIR TO FILTER IN. DAYS 5 THROUGH 7 WILL FEATURE A DRY FORECAST...AS MID LEVEL RIDGE BEGINS TO BUILD OVER THE SOUTHEAST. .GSP... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. LANE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 23, 9:38 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Anderson, Pickens | 52 min |
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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.