Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 56, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 9, 2002, 7:12 PM EDT for Abbeville County, South Carolina. It was in force for 33 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
- May 9, 2002, 7:12 PM EDT (23:12 UTC)
- Expired
- May 9, 2002, 7:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 33 min
- Issued by
- NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Abbeville County, SC
The radar
The Greer radar (KGSP), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:11 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, 7:20 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 E | Lowndesville, SC | Some trees and powerlines were blown down. |
| May 9, 7:20 PM EDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 E | Calhoun Falls, SC | Some trees and powerlines 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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 7:00 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 4 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 211 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
- 45 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -315 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 929 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 28 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 84 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 123 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WUUS52 KGSP 092312 SVRGSP SCC001-092345- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 713 PM EDT THU MAY 9 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN ABBEVILLE COUNTY IN UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA * UNTIL 745 PM EDT * AT 711 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 9 MILES NORTHEAST OF ELBERTON...OR ABOUT 8 MILES WEST OF LOWNDESVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... LOWNDESVILLE AT 715 PM EDT. ABBEVILLE AT 735 PM EDT. THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING WIND DAMAGE. WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH ARE LIKELY. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WINDS CAN REACH SPEEDS OF 60 TO 100 MPH. THESE WINDS BLOW DOWN TREES...POWER LINES...AND SEVERELY DAMAGE MOBILE HOMES AND SOMETIMES BUILDINGS. VERY LARGE OR WIND-DRIVEN HAIL CAN INJURE ANYONE CAUGHT OUTSIDE. $$ LANE
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, 7:10 PM EDT, 2 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 9, 7:10 PM EDT, 2 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 710 PM EDT THU MAY 9 2002 UPDATE FOR SVR WW #271 WILL BE OUT SHORTLY. FCSTID =16 .GSP... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. DIXON
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 9, 5:33 PM EDT, 1 hour 39 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, 6:41 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Greenville, Spartanburg | 49 min |
| May 9, 7:03 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Anderson | 27 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.