Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 262, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

August 26, 2002Oconee County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 26, 2002, 4:01 PM EDT for Oconee County, South Carolina. It was in force for 59 min. 2 reports 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, 4:01 PM EDT (20:01 UTC)
Expired: Aug 26, 2002, 5:00 PM EDT
In force: 59 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Oconee County, SC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:05 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 26, 4:35 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50 E	Walhalla, SC	A few trees and powerlines were blown down.
Aug 26, 5:00 PM EDT	Thunderstorm Wind 55 E	Seneca, SC	Numerous trees were blown down, some across roads.

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, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 203 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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.

963 
WUUS52 KGSP 262001
SVRGSP
SCC073-262100-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 500 PM EDT

* AT 401 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS 8 MILES NORTHWEST
  OF WALHALLA...OR ABOUT 3 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MOUNTAIN REST...MOVING
  EAST AT 15 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  MOUNTAIN REST AT 405 PM EDT.
  WALHALLA AT 425 PM EDT.
  OAKWAY AT 445 PM EDT.
  SENECA AT 450 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.

$$
JONES

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, 3:35 PM EDT, 26 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 26, 3:35 PM EDT, 26 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
335 PM EDT MON AUG 26 2002

ATMOS QUITE UNSTABLE AS H5 COLD TROF ROTATES THRU THE AREA TONIGHT.
UPR JET PRODUCING DIFFLUENCE OVER THE AREA AS WELL. CONVECTION
ONGOING PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN AND SOME SVR ATTM. EXPECT LIKELY
COVERAGE THRU THE EVENING. ANOTHER COLD TROF ROTATES AROUND UPPER
LOW AND MOVES THRU TUE. LOTS OF MOISTURE AND SELY FLOW WILL LEAD TO
ANOTHER DAY OF INCREASED COVERAGE. BEST LIFT ROTATES NORTHWARD FOR
TUE NITE/WED. HOWEVER DEEP MOISTURE AND SELY FLOW CONTINUES.
THEREFORE WILL GO LIKELY POP NORTH AND CHC SOUTH. WILL CONTINUE TO
MENTION THUNDER DUE TO FORCING EVEN THOUGH ATMOS WILL BE LESS
UNSTABLE. THIS GENERAL TREND CONTINUES THU AS DOES CHC POP.

WENT TOWARD WARM GUIDANCE ON LOWS AND COOLER GUIDANCE HIGHS GIVEN
PRECIP AND CLOUDS.

FOR THE MEDIUM RANGE...LONGER RANGE MODELS CONTINUE TO WEAKEN THE
UPPER LOW...AS IT WANDERS SLOWLY ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST STATES. LOW
LEVEL MOISTURE REMAINS RATHER HIGH...AND WITH A GRADUAL WARMING
TREND...EXPECT MOSTLY A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH SATURDAY...BUT CERTAINLY MUCH LESS COVERAGE
THAN EXPECTED THROUGH OUR CURRENT MIDWEEK PERIOD. BY MONDAY...WITH
HIGH PRESSURE IN CONTROL AND UPPER LOW LOSING ITS IDENTITY ON THE
MODELS...WILL GO WITH FAIR SKIES AND NO CHANCE OF RAIN FOR SUNDAY
AND MONDAY.

FCSTID = 81
GSP   69  82  67  82 /  70  60  50  50
AND   69  83  67  83 /  70  60  50  50
CLT   69  81  68  81 /  70  70  60  50
HKY   66  78  66  78 /  70  70  60  50
AVL   64  76  63  76 /  70  70  60  50

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

RWH/SAB

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 26, 12:46 PM EDT, 3 hours 15 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

Local storm report, Aug 26, 3:15 PM EDT, 46 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
315 PM EDT MON AUG 26 2002

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

312 PM     DILLARD                   GA   .75 INCH HAIL
08/26/02   RABUN                          RABUN 911 RELAYED A
                                          REPORT OF DIME HAIL.

JONES

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 26, 4:58 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Pickens	62 min
Aug 26, 5:49 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Anderson	56 min
Aug 26, 6:47 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Anderson	43 min
Aug 26, 7:21 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Greenwood	54 min
Aug 26, 7:23 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Abbeville	52 min
Aug 26, 7:35 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Laurens	55 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 2002 Every 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.