Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 5, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 16, 2002, 10:51 AM EST for Rutherford County, North Carolina. It was in force for 24 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
- Mar 16, 2002, 10:51 AM EST (15:51 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 16, 2002, 11:15 AM EST
- In force
- 24 min
- Issued by
- NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Rutherford County, NC
The radar
The Greer radar (KGSP), 64 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:54 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 16, 11:08 AM EST | Hail 0.75 | Henrietta, 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, 3.9 hours before the alert went out and 197 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 59 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -163 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 940 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 134 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 122 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WUUS52 KGSP 161551 SVRGSP NCC161-161615- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 1050 AM EST SAT MAR 16 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... RUTHERFORD COUNTY IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA * UNTIL 1115 AM EST * AT 1050 AM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH LARGE HAIL 3 MILES SOUTHWEST OF RUTHERFORDTON... MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... SPINDALE AT 1055 AM EST. FOREST CITY AT 1100 AM EST. SUNSHINE AT 1105 AM EST. ELLENBORO AT 1110 AM EST. THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL PRODUCE DIME TO NICKEL SIZED HAIL ACROSS THE MIDDLE OF RUTHERFORD COUNTY. 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 Mar 16, 9:50 AM EST, 1 hour 1 minute earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Mar 16, 9:50 AM EST, 1 hour 1 minute before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 950 AM EST SAT MAR 16 2002 KGSP RADAR SHOWS SOLID LINE OF SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NC MOUNTAINS...POISED TO MOVE OUT OVER THE NC FOOTHILLS. LIGHTNING ACTIVITY HAS DROPPED SIGNIFICANTLY OVER THE PAST HOUR....BUT BAND OF PRECIP REMAINS ESSENTIALLY INTACT FOR THE TIME BEING. KFFC RADAR SHOWS SIGNIFICANTLY LESS ACTIVITY OVER NE GA...BUT ANOTHER LARGER AREA OF CONVECTION MOVING IN FROM AL. IT WOULD APPEAR THAT THE BEST CHANCE FOR RAIN WILL BE ACROSS THE NORTHERN ZONES FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. WILL BE FORCED TO REGROUP AND GO CATEGORICAL ACROSS THE NC FOOTHILLS...AND PERHAPS ACROSS NW PIEDMONT AS WELL. WILL MAKE THAT CALL JUST BEFORE UPDATING AROUND 1030 TO 11AM ONCE PRECIP IS MOVING OUT OF MOUNTAINS. THAT WILL ALLOW ME TO PERHAPS DROP BACK TO CHANCE POP ACROSS MOUNTAINS FOR AFTERNOON. THE SC FOOTHILLS/PIEDMONT AND NE GA ARE ANOTHER STORY. WITH 850 MB FLOW COMING AROUND TO WESTERLY...IN THESE SITUATIONS...WE TYPICALLY SEE MUCH LESS PRECIP ACROSS UPSTATE SC. KFFC RADAR WOULD SEEM TO SUPPORT THAT IDEA. WILL CONSIDER DROPPING POP BACK TO A LOWER CHANCE ACROSS PART OF THE UPSTATE. TEMPS ARE A PROBLEM TOO...AS SEVERAL GROUPS ARE AT OR ABOVE WARM FORECAST HIGHS AT THIS EARLY HOUR. WILL HAVE TO BUMP UP AT LEAST ONE CAT AHEAD OF PRECIP BAND. .GSP... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. MOORE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 16, 11:14 AM EST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Cleveland | 31 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.