Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 243, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

August 2, 2002Union County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 2, 2002, 4:33 PM EDT for Union County, South Carolina. It was in force for 42 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 2, 2002, 4:33 PM EDT (20:33 UTC)
Expired
Aug 2, 2002, 5:15 PM EDT
In force
42 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Union County, SC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:36 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 hours before the alert went out and 220 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 2002-08-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1645 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 2002-08-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -7 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
1645 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1274 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-7 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
22 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.

437 
WUUS52 KGSP 022033
SVRGSP
SCC087-022115-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
433 PM EDT FRI AUG 2 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  UNION COUNTY IN UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 515 PM EDT

* AT 433 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS 5 MILES SOUTHWEST
  OF UNION...OR ABOUT 4 MILES SOUTH OF BUFFALO...MOVING SOUTHWEST AT
  10 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  SEDALIA AT 505 PM EDT.
  CROSS KEYS AT 515 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 Aug 2, 3:04 PM EDT, 1 hour 29 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 2, 3:04 PM EDT, 1 hour 29 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
304 PM EDT FRI AUG 2 2002

SCT CONVECTION ONGOING ATTM. BEST COVERAGE OVER MTNS...BUT WILL
EXPAND OVER THE SOUTHERN SECTIONS. SOME OF THE CELLS ARE STRONG AND
CANNOT RULE OUT AN ISOLATED SEVERE STORM THIS EVENING. POP IN THE
ZONES WILL BE HIER THAN CCF POP BELOW...BUT STILL SCT.

AFTER THIS EVENING MOISTURE DECREASES OVER THE AREA. THETA-E VALUES
DECREASE SIGNIFICANTLY. EVEN WITH CONTINUED COOL MID LEVEL TEMPS
ATMOS REMAINS STABLE SATURDAY. MOISTURE GREATER TO OUR NORTH SO FOR
NOW WILL CONTINUE WITH NO PRECIP.

SUNDAY COULD BE INTERESTING. AVN LONE MDL INDICATING TREMENDOUS
MOISTURE AND LIFT INCREASE FROM THE SOUTH...SPREADING PRECIP ACROSS
ALL CWFA. WILL HOLD OFF ON THAT SCENARIO FOR NOW...BUT WILL INCREASE
CLOUDS OVER THE AREA AS ETA DOES SHOW UPSLOPE FLOW AND A LITTLE
MOISTURE INCREASE.

TEMPS SAT MAYBE A COUPLE OF DEGREES COOLER THAN TODAY. TRENDED A
LITTLE COOLER SUNDAY WITH MORE CLOUDS...BUT NOT AS COOL AS THE MAV.

GSP   70  93  68  88 /  20  10  10  20
AND   70  93  69  88 /  20  10  10  20
CLT   70  93  69  89 /  20  10  10  20
HKY   68  91  68  88 /  20  20  10  20
AVL   65  88  63  84 /  20  10  10  20

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

RWH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 2, 3:54 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPYork51 min
Aug 2, 5:27 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPLaurens48 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.