Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 54, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 9, 2002, 6:41 PM EDT for Greenville County, Spartanburg County, South Carolina. It was in force for 49 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
- May 9, 2002, 6:41 PM EDT (22:41 UTC)
- Expired
- May 9, 2002, 7:30 PM EDT
- In force
- 49 min
- Issued by
- NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Greenville County, SC, Spartanburg County, SC
The radar
The Greer radar (KGSP), 5 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:40 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 7:15 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 E | Spartanburg, SC | A few trees were blown down. |
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, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 244 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
- 450 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -89 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 977 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 29 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 113 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 143 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 0.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WUUS52 KGSP 092241 SVRGSP SCC045-083-092330- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 639 PM EDT THU MAY 9 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... SPARTANBURG COUNTY IN UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA GREENVILLE COUNTY IN UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA * UNTIL 730 PM EDT * AT 639 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH DAMAGING WINDS FROM 9 MILES SOUTHEAST OF COLUMBUS TO 4 MILES NORTHWEST OF GREENVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 45 MPH. * SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEAR... TAYLORS AT 640 PM EDT. LYMAN AT 645 PM EDT. BOILING SPRINGS SC AT 650 PM EDT. REIDVILLE AT 655 PM EDT. SPARTANBURG AT 700 PM EDT. PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN CAN OCCUR WITH ANY THUNDERSTORM. $$ MCAVOY
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 9, 5:15 PM EDT, 1 hour 26 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 9, 5:15 PM EDT, 1 hour 26 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 515 PM EDT THU MAY 9 2002 WL UPDATE ZONES TO REMOVE SVR TSTM WATCH. WL ALSO GO LIKELY POPS IN THE NE GA ZONES AND THE SRN PART OF THE UPSTATE AS THIS IS THE ONLY AREA WHICH HAS NOT MIXED OUT THIS AFTN...AND TSRA LOOK LIKE THEY WL SURVIVE THEIR TRIP ACROSS THE SAVANNAH RIVER VALLEY. .GSP... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. MCAVOY
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 9, 5:33 PM EDT, 1 hour 8 minutes before
GAZ018-026-028-029-SCZ010-011-092230- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 533 PM EDT THU MAY 9 2002 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHEAST GEORGIA AND THE WESTERN SOUTH CAROLINA UPSTATE... AT 535 PM EDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHEAST GEORGIA. THE LINE WILL MOVE EAST AT 35 MPH...AND AFFECT AREAS FROM CLARKESVILLE TO TOCCOA AND CARNESVILLE BY 615 PM. THIS WILL ALSO INCLUDE MUCH OF LAKE HARTWELL. WINDS OF 40 MPH...TORRENTIAL RAIN...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND SMALL HAIL WILL ACCOMPANY THE LINE. IF THE STORMS CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN...THEY MAY REACH SEVERE LIMITS WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR THE MEDIA FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION. MCAVOY
The office that day
Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 7:03 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Anderson | 27 min |
| May 9, 7:12 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Abbeville | 33 min |
| May 9, 7:22 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Cherokee | 38 min |
| May 9, 7:49 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Abbeville, Greenwood | 41 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.