Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 42, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

May 3, 2002Laurens County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 2002, 8:58 AM EDT for Laurens County, South Carolina. It was in force for 47 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 3, 2002, 8:58 AM EDT (12:58 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 2002, 9:45 AM EDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Laurens County, SC

The nearest sounding before it

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 256 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 2002-05-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1445 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 2002-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 39 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1445 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-140 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
808 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
39 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
159 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WUUS52 KGSP 031258
SVRGSP
SCC059-031345-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
857 AM EDT FRI MAY 3 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 945 AM EDT

* AT 857 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM WITH DAMAGING WINDS 12 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LAURENS...OR
  ABOUT 7 MILES SOUTH OF HICKORY TAVERN...MOVING EAST AT 90 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  LAURENS AT 900 AM EDT.
  CLINTON AT 905 AM 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 May 3, 6:35 AM EDT, 2 hours 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 3, 6:35 AM EDT, 2 hours 23 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
635 AM EDT FRI MAY 3 2002

QUICK UPDATE FORTHCOMING FOR SEVERE WEATHER WATCH #222 FOR OUR SOUTHWEST
TIER ZONES. WILL ALSO INCREASE POPS...TO CATEGORICAL FOR THE WESTERN
ZONES...TO LIKELY FOR THE EASTERN ZONES...EXCEPT KEPT CHANCE ACROSS
OUR NORTHERN ZONES BORDERING RAH AND RNK.

FCSTID =
GSP   74  58  61  54 /  80  70  50  20
AND   75  59  64  55 /  80  70  50  20
CLT   73  57  60  55 /  60  60  50  20
HKY   69  54  59  53 /  40  60  50  20
AVL   69  53  57  49 /  80  60  50  20

.GSP...
GA...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL NOON EDT
GAZ010-017>018-026-028>029.
NC...NONE.
SC...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL NOON EDT SCZ001>006-010-011.

BURRUS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 2:48 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPChester12 min
May 3, 8:32 AM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPAbbeville, Anderson43 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.