Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 286, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

November 11, 2002Graham County, Swain County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Nov 11, 2002, 12:40 AM EST for Graham County, Swain County, North Carolina. It was in force for 65 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
Nov 11, 2002, 12:40 AM EST (05:40 UTC)
Expired
Nov 11, 2002, 1:45 AM EST
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Graham County, NC, Swain County, NC

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:41 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
Nov 11, 1:00 AM ESTThunderstorm Wind 50 ENantahala, NCTrees were blown down in Nantahala gorge. Other scattered tree damage was reported across the county.
Nov 11, 1:00 AM ESTThunderstorm Wind 55 ECountywide, NCNumerous trees were blown down and power outages occurred across the county.

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.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Nov 10, 10:45 PM ESTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 240 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 00:00Z on 2002-11-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1907 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 00:00Z on 2002-11-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 287 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1907 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
713 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
287 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
332 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
3.3
Supercell composite
11.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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 Nov 10, 9:31 PM EST, 3 hours 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 10, 9:31 PM EST, 3 hours 9 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
931 PM EST SUN NOV 10 2002

OVERALL...ZFP AND GRIDS IN GOOD SHAPE AND WILL PROBABLY WAIT UNTIL
10-11 PM...CLOSER TO EXPIRATION TIME OF WW 749...TO ADJUST SVR WX
WORDING AND ALSO TO CLEAN UP EVENING PCPN MENTIONS.

SINCE EARLY EVENING...HAVE SEEN INCREASING CVRG OF SHOWERS AND
SOME THUNDER ACRS UPSLOPE AREAS...PROGGED WELL BY 18Z ETA TO
EXPAND AND SHIFT NWD THRU LATE EVENING. UPSTREAM...SUPERCELLS
IN THE HIGHLY SHEARED AND MODERATELY UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT
FROM ERN TENN BACK INTO MS...HAVE CONTINUED TO TREK NE. EASTWARD
EVOLVING SQUALL LINE COINCIDENT WITH COLD FRONT LOOKS TO BE
CATCHING UP TO THE AFOREMENTIONED CELLS...AND AWAITING POSSIBILITY
OF WHOLE AREA DEVELOPING IN LINEAR SVR MCS OVER NEXT SVRL HOURS
AND THEN SWEEP INTO NC MTNS.

00Z AREA SNDGS INDICATING A LESSER DEGREE OF INSTABILITY...ON
THE ORDER OF 600-1200 J/KG...THAN WHAT SVR CONVECTION IS CURRENTLY
OCCURRING IN...BUT AN EXPECTEDLY STG SHEAR ENVIRONMENT IS PRESENT
WITH 0-3 KM SRH VALUES OF AROUND 400-450 M2/S2 TO AID IN LLVL
ORGANIZATION. STG UVVS SHOULD EASILY BE ABLE TO SUPPORT
ORGANIZED STG-SVR DEEP CONVECTION INTO THE NC MTNS...BUT LARGE
SCALE LIFT DOES SEEM TO WEAKEN THEREAFTER. WELL HAVE TO WAIT
& SEE HOW MUCH AND HOW STRONG OF A COOL POOL DEVELOPS TO SUPPORT
ACTIVITY EAST OF THE MTNS DURING THE LATE NITE HOURS.

FCSTID = 55

.GSP...
GA...NONE.
NC...WIND ADVISORY TONIGHT FOR NC/NE GA MTNS.
SC...NONE.
Hazardous weather outlook, Nov 10, 6:05 AM EST, 18 hours 35 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-101300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
605 AM EST SUN NOV 10 2002

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA...
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA.

.DAY ONE...

LOW PRESSURE OVER THE GREAT LAKES REGION WILL PUSH A COLD FRONT INTO
THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHERN GEORGIA TONIGHT. SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AHEAD OF THE FRONT THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WILL
ACCOMPANY THE FRONT TONIGHT...SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY
PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

ON TUESDAY...LOW PRESSURE WILL DEVELOP OVER THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE
AND WILL BRING ANOTHER ROUND OF PRECIPITATION TO THE REGION.
DEPENDING ON THE EVENTUAL TRACK AND STRENGTH OF THIS SYSTEM...HEAVY
RAINFALL MAY RESULT ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST
GEORGIA ON TUESDAY.

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

NED

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Nov 10, 10:00 PM EST, 2 hours 40 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-111000-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1000 PM EST SUN NOV 10 2002

...SEVERE WEATHER LIKELY OVERNIGHT IN THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND
NORTHEAST GEORGIA...

WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED AHEAD OF A STRONG COLD FRONT
MOVING THROUGH CENTRAL TENNESSEE THIS EVENING. THIS STORM SYSTEM...
WHICH HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL...AND
DEADLY TORNADOES...WILL APPROACH THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST
GEORGIA OVERNIGHT. THE COMBINATION OF UNSTABLE AIR IN PLACE OVER THE
REGION...COMBINED WITH VERY STRONG WINDS THROUGH A DEEP LAYER OF THE
ATMOSPHERE...ARE EXPECTED TO KEEP THIS STORM SYSTEM TOGETHER AS IT
MOVES INTO THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS.

ORGANIZED SEVERE WEATHER WILL LIKELY MOVE INTO THE MOUNTAINS OF
NORTH CAROLINA AFTER MIDNIGHT. THE GREATEST THREAT FOR SEVERE
WEATHER WILL BE ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CAROLINA...UPSTATE
SOUTH CAROLINA AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA THROUGH 5 AM. IF THE SQUALL
LINE HOLDS TOGETHER... THEN THE SEVERE THREAT WILL SPREAD TOWARD THE
INTERSTATE 77 CORRIDOR BY DAYBREAK.

ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP OVERNIGHT WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO
PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND
POSSIBLY TORNADOES.

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

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA OUTLET IN
CASE ANY WATCHES OR WARNING ARE ISSUED.

HG
Special weather statement, Nov 11, 12:08 AM EST, 32 minutes before
NCZ051-058-110600-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1208 AM EST MON NOV 11 2002

...STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING THE SOUTHWEST
NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS...

A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS...WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR DAMAGING WIND
GUSTS...WILL BE MOVING INTO THE SMOKIES SHORTLY AFTER 1 AM.
AREAS FROM AROUND ROBBINSVILLE TO BRYSON CITY WILL EXPERIENCE
FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING ALONG WITH THE POTENTIAL
FOR WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 58 MPH. IF STORMS CONTINUE TO
MAINTAIN THEIR STRENGTH AS THEY APPROACH THE NORTH CAROLINA
MOUNTAINS...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING MAY BE NEEDED.

55

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 11, 12:54 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPMacon66 min
Nov 11, 6:51 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPMecklenburg, Union54 min
Nov 11, 8:11 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPUnion34 min
Nov 11, 8:11 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPUnion34 min
Nov 11, 3:09 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPOconee51 min
Nov 11, 3:56 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPPickens49 min
Nov 11, 4:10 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPGreenville, Spartanburg50 min
Nov 11, 4:31 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPAnderson, Oconee44 min
Nov 11, 5:15 AM ESTTornado WarningGSPAnderson30 min
Nov 11, 5:26 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPGreenville, Laurens, Spartanburg49 min
Nov 11, 6:15 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCherokee, Union, York45 min
Nov 11, 6:27 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPChester48 min
Nov 11, 6:31 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPAbbeville, Greenwood44 min
Nov 11, 6:35 AM ESTTornado WarningGSPGreenwood40 min
Nov 11, 6:35 AM ESTTornado WarningGSPGreenwood40 min
Nov 11, 7:36 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPChester24 min
Nov 11, 2:33 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPHabersham, Rabun42 min
Nov 11, 4:01 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPFranklin, Stephens44 min
Nov 11, 4:38 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPHart52 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.