Alert archive / Georgia / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 261, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

August 26, 2002Rabun County, Georgia

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 26, 2002, 3:00 PM EDT for Rabun County, Georgia. It was in force for 60 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 26, 2002, 3:00 PM EDT (19:00 UTC)
Expired
Aug 26, 2002, 4:00 PM EDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Rabun County, GA

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 108 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:00 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 26, 3:12 PM EDTHail 0.75Dillard, GA

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 12:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 196 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2002-08-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 615 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2002-08-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -28 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 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
615 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-65 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1066 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-20 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.

662 
WUUS52 KGSP 261900
SVRGSP
GAC241-262000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
300 PM EDT MON AUG 26 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  RABUN COUNTY IN NORTHEAST GEORGIA

* UNTIL 400 PM EDT

* AT 300 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS 6 MILES NORTH OF
  CLAYTON...OR ABOUT OVER DILLARD...MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  MOUNTAIN CITY AT 305 PM EDT.
  SKY VALLEY AT 315 PM EDT.
  PINE MOUNTAIN AT 350 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.

$$
99/44

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 26, 11:09 AM EDT, 3 hours 51 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 26, 11:09 AM EDT, 3 hours 51 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1109 AM EDT MON AUG 26 2002

12Z UPR AIR CHARTS SHOW H5 COLD TROF THAT WILL ROTATE THRU THE AREA
THIS AFTERNOON. IT AND WV LOOP SHOW DRY MID LEVEL AIR MOVING IN. H25
JET ALSO ACROSS THE AREA WITH DIFFLUENCE AT H25 AND H5. GOOD LOW
LEVEL MOISTURE CONVERGENCE CONTINUES. 12Z RAOBS SHOW ATMOS WILL
STILL BE MODERATELY UNSTABLE EVEN IF DEW POINTS FALL A LITTLE. WILL
KEEP LIKELY POP NRN SECTIONS AND UP TO 50 POP ELSEWHERE. WITH THE
PARAMETERS MENTIONED ABOVE SEVERE TSRA A POSSIBILITY. WILL ISSUE AN
SPS TO COVER. TEMPS LOOK GOOD GIVEN CLOUD COVER AND LATER CONVECTION.

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

RWH

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 26, 12:46 PM EDT, 2 hours 14 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-262100-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1246 PM EDT MON AUG 26 2002

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

THUNDERSTORMS WILL BECOME NUMEROUS BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON. COLD DRY
AIR ALOFT WILL HELP PRODUCE AN UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE. THIS...COMBINED
WITH STRONG WINDS ALOFT...WILL INCREASE THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS.

DAMAGING WIND GUSTS WILL BE THE MOST LIKELY SEVERE WEATHER THREAT.
HOWEVER...LARGE HAIL IS ALSO POSSIBLE. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE
POSSIBLE ANYWHERE ACROSS EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA...AND THE WESTERN
CAROLINAS.

SPOTTER GROUPS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO ACTIVATE QUICKLY LATE THIS
AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. DISPATCHERS SHOULD ENSURE COUNTY
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS ARE AWARE OF THIS INFORMATION.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA OUTLET FOR
THE LATEST UPDATES CONCERNING THIS POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER
SITUATION.

RWH

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 26, 5:36 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPFranklin39 min
Aug 26, 5:52 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPHart38 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Georgia, 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.