Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 273, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

September 4, 2002Iredell County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 4, 2002, 4:00 PM EDT for Iredell County, North Carolina. 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
Sep 4, 2002, 4:00 PM EDT (20:00 UTC)
Expired
Sep 4, 2002, 5:00 PM EDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Iredell County, NC

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 146 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:01 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
Sep 4, 4:08 PM EDTHail 0.75Statesville, NC

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, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 93 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 2002-09-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1009 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 2002-09-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 90 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
1009 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-85 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1341 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
90 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
71 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.

577 
WUUS52 KGSP 042000
SVRGSP
NCC097-042100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
400 PM EDT WED SEP 4 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  IREDELL COUNTY IN THE PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 500 PM EDT

* AT 400 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM WITH DAMAGING WINDS 6 MILES NORTHEAST OF
  STATESVILLE...OR ABOUT 3 MILES SOUTHWEST OF TURNERSBURG...MOVING
  SOUTH AT 5 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  STATESVILLE AT 425 PM EDT.
  TROUTMAN AT 455 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.

$$

MOORE

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 Sep 4, 2:02 PM EDT, 1 hour 58 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 4, 2:02 PM EDT, 1 hour 58 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
202 PM EDT WED SEP 4 2002

COLD FRONT DROPPING TOWARD AREA NOW. CAPES EXPECTED TO BE QUITE HIGH
ALONG I-77...AND SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE. FROPA EXPECTED LATE
TONIGHT...SO WILL RUN CHANCE POPS THROUGH THIS EVENING. REST OF
FORECAST FEATURES DRY AIR OVER NC...WITH MARGINAL MOISTURE GA/SC. NO
MENTIONABLE POPS THU-SAT. AVN/ETA TEMPERATURES CONSIDERABLY HIGHER
THAN NGM. PREFER CONSERVATIVE APPROACH ON TEMPERATURES...SINCE AIR
MASS CHANGE NOT TOO DRAMATIC...AND FRONT DOES NOT SINK THAT FAR S.

SURFACE AND UPPER RIDGING ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN FIRMLY IN CONTROL
WITH DRY WEATHER ACROSS THE REGION DURING THE MEDIUM RANGE
PERIOD...THUS WILL NOT STRAY FAR FROM MEX GUIDANCE.

FCSTID =    7
GSP   68  90  66  85 /  30  10  20  20
AND   69  92  67  86 /  30  10  20  20
CLT   67  89  65  84 /  40  10  10  10
HKY   65  88  61  83 /  30  10  10  10
AVL   62  86  58  81 /  30  10  10  10

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

O7

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Sep 4, 11:18 AM EDT, 4 hours 42 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-050030-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1118 AM EDT WED SEP 4 2002

...A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON...

A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE CAROLINAS TODAY PRODUCING
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND
NORTHEAST GEORGIA. A FEW THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE THIS
AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING...AS THE ENVIRONMENT BECOMES MORE
FAVORABLE FOR STORMS TO PRODUCE WIND GUSTS GREATER THAN 60 MPH AND
HAIL THE SIZE OF DIMES OR LARGER.

ALTHOUGH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE AREA
TODAY...THE GREATEST CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE
LIMITED TO THE FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA.
THUNDERSTORMS WILL LINGER PAST SUNSET...BUT THE SEVERE WEATHER
POTENTIAL WILL RAPIDLY DIMINISH.

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.

MOORE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 4, 5:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPIredell41 min
Sep 4, 5:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCaldwell41 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.