Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 248, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

August 16, 2002Spartanburg County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 16, 2002, 8:01 PM EDT for Spartanburg County, South Carolina. It was in force for 44 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 16, 2002, 8:01 PM EDT (00:01 UTC)
Expired
Aug 16, 2002, 8:45 PM EDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Spartanburg County, SC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 22 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:04 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 00:00Z, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 228 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 00:00Z on 2002-08-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1115 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 00:00Z on 2002-08-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 48 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
1115 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-30 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
955 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
48 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
55 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

377 
WUUS52 KGSP 170001
SVRGSP
SCC083-170045-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
800 PM EDT FRI AUG 16 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 845 PM EDT

* AT 800 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM 13 MILES WEST OF SPARTANBURG...OR ABOUT OVER DUNCAN...
  MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  WELLFORD AT 805 PM EDT.
  INMAN AT 815 PM EDT.
  BOILING SPRINGS SC AT 830 PM EDT.
  FINGERVILLE AT 835 PM EDT.
  MAYO AT 845 PM EDT.

PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM SHOULD BE ALERT FOR 
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. THIS STORM CONTAINS FREQUENT 
LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN.

$$
07

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 16, 2:37 PM EDT, 5 hours 24 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 16, 2:37 PM EDT, 5 hours 24 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
237 PM EDT FRI AUG 16 2002

MOIST AIRMASS REMAINS OVER AREA WITH SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
INCREASING OVER MTNS. PRECIPITABLE WATER ON FFC AND GSO SOUNDINGS
VCNTY 2 INCHES. ETA AND AVN SHOW VERY WEAK SHRTWV/PVA MOVING OVER
AREA TONIGHT AND AVN HAS AN AREA OF WEAK UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE
PASSING OVER AFTER MIDNIGHT. IT WONT TAKE MUCH TO KEEP CONVECTION
GOING WITH THIS AIRMASS SO HAVE INCREASED POPS TO 50 PERCENT
OVERNIGHT...MAY EVEN GO 60...WILL WAIT TIL LAST MINUTE TO DECIDE.
SATURDAY LOOKS SIMILAR TO TODAY...A LITTLE LESS MOISTURE ON
SUNDAY...EVEN LESS MONDAY. KEEPING SCT POPS IN FCST THRU SUN NIGHT.
AFTER FIRST PART OF NEXT WEEK...DRYER HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OVER THE
AREA.

FCSTID = 77
GSP   71  89  70  91 /  50  50  40  30
AND   71  89  71  92 /  50  50  40  30
CLT   71  90  70  92 /  50  50  40  30
HKY   70  88  69  90 /  50  50  40  30
AVL   66  83  66  85 /  60  50  50  40

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

RB

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 16, 3:15 PM EDT, 4 hours 46 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-170200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
315 PM EDT FRI AUG 16 2002

...THUNDERSTORMS WITH MORE HEAVY RAINFALL FOR SOME AREAS THIS
AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...

THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN HAVE DEVELOPED ACROSS THE NORTH
CAROLINA MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON. THE ATMOSPHERE REMAINS QUITE
UNSTABLE AND VERY MOIST...AND THE THREAT OF STORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN
WILL CONTINUE ALL AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EVENING. PONDING OF WATER
ON ROADS AND HIGHWAYS...AND LOCAL FLOODING COULD POSSIBLY RESULT.

FAIRLY WIDESPREAD MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL OCCURRED LAST NIGHT IN
PARTS OF THE FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT OF THE CAROLINAS.  IT IS
POSSIBLE A SIMILAR EPISODE COULD DEVELOP AGAIN TONIGHT SOUTH AND
EAST OF THE MOUNTAINS. WEAK FEATURES IN THE MIDDLE AND UPPER
ATMOSPHERE COULD MOVE OVER THE MOIST TROPICAL AIR IN PLACE ACROSS
THE CAROLINAS...SETTING OFF THUNDERSTORM CLUSTERS WHICH CAN CAUSE
SEVERAL INCHES OF RAIN IN A SHORT TIME.

AS WAS THE CASE LAST NIGHT...SOME AREAS CAN RECEIVE HEAVY RAINFALL
OF UP TO 4 TO 6 INCHES...WHILE OTHER LOCATIONS RECEIVE LITTLE IF ANY
RAINFALL. FLASH FLOODING...ESPECIALLY IN URBAN AREAS...CAN DEVELOP
QUICKLY EVEN DURING A DROUGHT...WHEN EXCESSIVE RAIN FALLS ON GROUND
WHICH IS HARD PACKED BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF RAIN...OR ON GROUND
SATURATED BY THE PREVIOUS NIGHTS RAIN.  IT IS POSSIBLE A FLOOD WATCH
OR FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS COULD BE REQUIRED FOR SOME AREAS LATER THIS
AFTERNOON OR TONIGHT.

WHILE THESE TYPES OF RAIN SYSTEMS BRING BENEFICIAL RAIN...AND
PROVIDE SHORT TERM RELIEF FROM THE DROUGHT...THEY HAVE LITTLE EFFECT
ON THE PERSISTENT LONG TERM DROUGHT.

JONES

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.