Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 57, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

May 9, 2002Cherokee County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 9, 2002, 7:22 PM EDT for Cherokee County, South Carolina. It was in force for 38 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, 7:22 PM EDT (23:22 UTC)
Expired
May 9, 2002, 8:00 PM EDT
In force
38 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Cherokee County, SC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 58 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:21 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
May 9, 7:26 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50 EGaffney, SCA few trees were blown down across roads.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 9, 7:00 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 193 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2002-05-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 450 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2002-05-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 113 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS52 KGSP 092322
SVRGSP
SCC021-100000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
721 PM EDT THU MAY 9 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 800 PM EDT

* AT 721 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH DAMAGING WINDS FROM 9 MILES NORTHWEST OF
  GAFFNEY TO 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SPARTANBURG...MOVING EAST AT 40
  MPH.

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEAR...
  GAFFNEY AT 730 PM EDT.
  BLACKSBURG AT 740 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, 7:10 PM EDT, 12 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 9, 7:10 PM EDT, 12 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 49 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 9, 6:41 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPGreenville, Spartanburg49 min
May 9, 7:03 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPAnderson27 min
May 9, 7:12 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPAbbeville33 min
May 9, 7:49 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPAbbeville, Greenwood41 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.