Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

March 31, 2002Union County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Mar 31, 2002, 2:54 PM EST for Union County, North Carolina. It was in force for 51 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
Mar 31, 2002, 2:54 PM EST (19:54 UTC)
Expired
Mar 31, 2002, 3:45 PM EST
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Union County, NC

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 31, 3:00 PM ESTHail 1Indian Trail, NC
Mar 31, 3:07 PM ESTHail 1.75Fairview, 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, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 134 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 2002-03-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2002-03-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 132 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
472 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
132 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
230 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS52 KGSP 311954
TORGSP
NCC179-312045-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
254 PM EST SUN MAR 31 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN UNION COUNTY IN THE PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 345 PM EST.

* AT 253 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO 9 MILES NORTHWEST OF
  MONROE...OR ABOUT 2 MILES SOUTH OF INDIAN TRAIL...MOVING NORTHEAST
  AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  FAIRVIEW AT 320 PM EST.
  NEW SALEM AT 335 PM EST.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IN A HOME OR
BUSINESS IS AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. STAY AWAY
FROM DOORS AND WINDOWS.

$$

MOORE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 31, 2:43 PM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCabarrus, Rowan47 min
Mar 31, 2:58 PM ESTTornado WarningGSPMecklenburg32 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in North Carolina, 2002Every tornado warning in 2002Tornadoes 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.