Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 255, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

August 24, 2002Rowan County, North Carolina

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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 24, 6:30 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50 EChina Grove, NCSeveral 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2002-08-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 681 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 2002-08-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 9 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 24, 4:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPMecklenburg48 min
Aug 24, 5:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPRutherford48 min
Aug 24, 6:02 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCatawba, Iredell43 min
Aug 24, 6:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPGaston47 min
Aug 24, 6:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCabarrus50 min
Aug 24, 6:51 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPMecklenburg54 min
Aug 24, 7:36 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPUnion39 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.