Alert archive / North Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

March 31, 2002Mecklenburg County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Mar 31, 2002, 2:58 PM EST for Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. It was in force for 32 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, 2:58 PM EST (19:58 UTC)
Expired: Mar 31, 2002, 3:30 PM EST
In force: 32 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Mecklenburg County, NC

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Mar 31, 3:16 PM EST	Hail 1.75	Pineville, NC
Mar 31, 3:20 PM EST	Hail 1.75	Matthews, 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, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 125 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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 311958
TORGSP
NCC119-312030-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN MECKLENBURG COUNTY IN THE PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 330 PM EST.

* AT 256 PM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF ROCK
  HILL...OR ABOUT 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF PINEVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 45
  MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  PINEVILLE AT 300 PM EST.
  CHARLOTTE AT 310 PM EST.
  MATTHEWS AT 315 PM EST.
  MINT HILL AT 320 PM EST.

SEVERAL FUNNEL CLOUDS HAVE BEEN REPORTED WITH THIS STORM. THIS MEANS 
THAT THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO AT ANY TIME. 
PERSONS IN SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE CHARLOTTE METROPOLITAN AREA 
SHOULD OBSERVE TORNADO SAFETY PROCEDURES IMMEDIATELY. 
 
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.

$$

LANE

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 31, 2:43 PM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Cabarrus, Rowan	47 min
Mar 31, 2:54 PM EST	Tornado Warning	GSP	Union	51 min

Nearby

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