Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 255, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 24, 2002, 6:23 PM EDT for Rowan County, North Carolina. It was in force for 52 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
- Aug 24, 2002, 6:23 PM EDT (22:23 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 24, 2002, 7:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 52 min
- Issued by
- NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Rowan County, NC
The radar
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 156 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:27 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 24, 6:30 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 E | China Grove, NC | Several trees and powerlines were blown down. A truck was severely damaged when it collided with a fallen tree. |
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
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 75 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
- 681 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -81 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1533 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 26 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 9 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 4 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
052 WUUS52 KGSP 242223 SVRGSP NCC159-242315- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 622 PM EDT SAT AUG 24 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... ROWAN COUNTY IN THE PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA * UNTIL 715 PM EDT * AT 622 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF STATESVILLE...OR ABOUT 3 MILES NORTHWEST OF MOUNT ULLA...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... CHINA GROVE AT 635 PM EDT. SALISBURY AT 635 PM EDT. GRANITE QUARRY AT 645 PM EDT. ROCKWELL AT 650 PM EDT. CRAVEN AT 655 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. $$
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 24, 2:56 PM EDT, 3 hours 27 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 24, 2:56 PM EDT, 3 hours 27 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 256 PM EDT SAT AUG 24 2002 REGIONAL 88D LOOPS INDICATE BROKEN DEEP CONVECTION JUST UPSTREAM OF THE CWFA ATTM. INTO THE EVENING...UVV ALONG AND OUT AHEAD OF APRCHG S/WV SHOULD BE ABLE TO MAINTAIN CVRG INTO THE NC MTNS WITH CVRG EAST OF THE MTNS EXPECTED TO BE SCATTERED ACRS NORTHERN NC TO ISOLATED IN THE UPSTATE. LATER ON SUNDAY AND ESPECIALLY INTO SUNDAY NIGHT...LARGE SCALE LIFT AND DEEPER RH LOOKS TO INCREASE ACRS THE CWFA IN RESPONSE TO ENERGY ROTATING AROUND UPPER LOW CLOSING OFF TO OUR WEST AND LLVL FLOW ASSUMING AN INCREASINGLY UPSLOPE/UPGLIDE COMPONENT WHICH CONTINUES INTO MONDAY. FROM DAYS 3 THRU 5...DRY SLOT PROGGED TO PUSH INTO CWFA... EFFECTIVELY SHIFTING WCB RNFL FURTHER NORTHEAST OF THE CWFA WITH TIME...BUT BROAD AND DEEP SLY FLOW ALONG FRONT SIDE OF THE SLOWLY FILLING UPPER LOW TO REMAIN OVER THE CWFA RESULTING IN DAILY CHCS OF DEEP CONVECTION. FCSTID = 55 GSP 71 91 70 84 / 30 20 30 50 AND 71 91 70 84 / 30 20 30 50 CLT 71 91 70 84 / 30 20 30 50 HKY 70 89 68 79 / 30 20 30 50 AVL 64 83 63 76 / 30 20 30 50 .GSP... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Aug 24, 4:21 PM EDT, 2 hours 2 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-250000- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 421 PM EDT SAT AUG 24 2002 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING... ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE PIEDMONT MAY INCREASE IN COVERAGE DURING THE EVENING...WITH A FEW CAUSING DAMAGING WIND GUSTS AND LARGE HAIL. A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS LATE THIS AFTERNOON...WILL MOVE EAST OUT INTO THE FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT. MANY OF THESE STORMS WILL BE STRONG...WITH SMALL TO MEDIUM SIZE HAIL...AND WIND GUSTS TO 50 MPH OR HIGHER. A FEW OF THESE STORMS COULD ALSO BECOME SEVERE...WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. THE BEST CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL LIKELY BE IN NORTH CAROLINA...BUT A FEW STORMS COULD DEVELOP IN GEORGIA AND SOUTH CAROLINA AS WELL. INTENSE CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...AND BRIEF LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN SHOWERS WILL ALSO OCCUR. JONES
Special weather statement, Aug 24, 5:49 PM EDT, 34 minutes before
NCZ035-036-055>057-066>072-SCZ007-008-242245- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 549 PM EDT SAT AUG 24 2002 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS... A BROKEN LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS...WITH WIND GUSTS ABOVE 40 MPH...WILL CONTINUE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH INTO THE NORTH CAROLINA PIEDMONT...AND ADJACENT AREAS OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA UPSTATE. STORMS EXTENDING FROM AROUND HICKORY SOUTHWEST TO AROUND HENDERSONVILLE...WILL BE NEAR A SALISBURY TO GASTONIA TO SPARTANBURG LINE BY 645 PM. THOSE IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS...CAN EXPECT LOCALLY STRONG WIND GUSTS AND POSSIBLY SOME HAIL AS WELL. IN ADDITION...A FEW OF THESE STORMS HAVE BEEN PRODUCING AN EXCEPTIONAL AMOUNT OF LIGHTNING.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 24, 4:12 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Mecklenburg | 48 min |
| Aug 24, 5:57 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Rutherford | 48 min |
| Aug 24, 6:02 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Catawba, Iredell | 43 min |
| Aug 24, 6:28 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Gaston | 47 min |
| Aug 24, 6:40 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Cabarrus | 50 min |
| Aug 24, 6:51 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Mecklenburg | 54 min |
| Aug 24, 7:36 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Union | 39 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.