Alert archive / South Carolina / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

November 11, 2002Greenwood County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this tornado warning at Nov 11, 2002, 6:35 AM EST for Greenwood County, South Carolina. It was in force for 40 min. 3 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: Nov 11, 2002, 6:35 AM EST (11:35 UTC)
Expired: Nov 11, 2002, 7:15 AM EST
In force: 40 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Greenwood County, SC

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Nov 11, 6:35 AM EST	Thunderstorm Wind 60 E	Verdery, SC	Numerous trees and power lines were blown down in a 3-mile wide swath across portions of southern Greenwood County. Although conclusive evidence of a tornado did not exist, there were at least 2 reports of a tornado, and it is possible that a weak tornado was
Nov 11, 6:45 AM EST	Thunderstorm Wind 55 E	Greenwood, SC	Some trees were blown down.
Nov 11, 7:00 AM EST	Thunderstorm Wind 55 E	Dyson, SC	Several large trees and some power lines 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
Nov 11, 3:30 AM EST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 00:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 236 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: 1907 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 713 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 57 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 287 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 332 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 3.3
Supercell composite: 11.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

986 
WFUS52 KGSP 111135
TORGSP
SCC047-111215-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
635 AM EST MON NOV 11 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  GREENWOOD COUNTY IN UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 715 AM EST.

* AT 634 AM EST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO 15 MILES SOUTH OF
  ABBEVILLE...OR ABOUT 12 MILES SOUTHWEST OF VERDERY...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  VERDERY AT 640 AM EST.
  CALLISON AT 645 AM EST.
  GREENWOOD AT 650 AM EST.
  NINETY SIX AT 700 AM EST.

THIS TORNADO WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING WHICH
WAS IN EFFECT FOR THE SAME AREA. GO TO A BASEMENT OR SMALL INTERIOR
ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

TORNADOES IN THE SOUTHEASTERN STATES ARE SOMETIMES HARD TO SEE
BECAUSE OF RAIN...LOW CLOUDS AND TREES. TAKE COVER NOW...DO NOT TRY
TO WAIT ON THE STORM AND DO NOT TRY TO OUTRUN IT.

LAT...LON 3405 8233 3397 8227 3403 8194 3419 8194
          3432 8213

$$

LANE

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 11, 3:09 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Oconee	51 min
Nov 11, 3:56 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Pickens	49 min
Nov 11, 4:10 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Greenville, Spartanburg	50 min
Nov 11, 4:31 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Anderson, Oconee	44 min
Nov 11, 5:15 AM EST	Tornado Warning	GSP	Anderson	30 min
Nov 11, 5:26 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Greenville, Laurens, Spartanburg	49 min
Nov 11, 6:15 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Cherokee, Union, York	45 min
Nov 11, 6:27 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Chester	48 min
Nov 11, 6:31 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Abbeville, Greenwood	44 min
Nov 11, 6:35 AM EST	Tornado Warning	GSP	Greenwood	40 min
Nov 11, 7:36 AM EST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Chester	24 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in South 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.