Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 103, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 9, 2003, 3:31 AM EDT for Avery County, North Carolina. It was in force for 59 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 9, 2003, 3:31 AM EDT (07:31 UTC)
- Expired
- May 9, 2003, 4:30 AM EDT
- In force
- 59 min
- Issued by
- NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Avery County, NC
The radar
The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 129 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:35 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.
Did it verify
Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.
Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.
The nearest sounding before it
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 186 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
- 63 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -110 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2457 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 49 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 39 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 109 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
316 WUUS52 KGSP 090731 SVRGSP NCC011-090830- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 328 AM EDT FRI MAY 9 2003 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... AVERY COUNTY IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA * UNTIL 430 AM EDT * AT 328 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 3 MILES EAST OF ELIZABETHTON...OR ABOUT 16 MILES NORTHWEST OF ELK PARK...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 45 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... ELK PARK AT 340 AM EDT. SUGAR MOUNTAIN AT 345 AM EDT. NEWLAND AT 350 AM EDT. GRANDFATHER MOUNTAIN AT 400 AM EDT. THIS RAPIDLY MOVING SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MAY CAUSE WINDS FROM 60 TO 100 MPH...AS WELL AS LARGE HAIL. THIS THUNDERSTORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING WIND GUSTS OF 66 MPH. TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS STORM. LAT...LON 3615 8211 3592 8199 3598 8172 3632 8192 $$ SAB/HG
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 8, 9:44 PM EDT, 5 hours 47 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 8, 9:44 PM EDT, 5 hours 47 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 944 PM EDT THU MAY 8 2003 LAPS ANALYSIS SHOWED UNSTABLE ATMOS GRADIENT ACROSS THE AREA LATE THIS AFTERNOON/EARLY THIS EVENING. MUCH MORE UNSTABLE OVER SC/GA THAN NC. 00Z GSO RAOB SHOWED VERY DRY LOW LEVELS...WHILE 00Z FFC RAOB SHOWED MOIST LOW LEVELS...BOTH AGREEING WITH THE ANALYSIS. HOWEVER THERE WAS NO TRIGGER TO KICK OFF ANY CONVECTION. STORMS OVER TN AND APPARENT DEVELOPING MCS WOULD CERTAINLY LEAD TO CONVECTION. HOWEVER THIS WILL BE WHERE ATMOS LESS UNSTABLE. MCS TRACK WILL BE VERY CLOSE TO OUR NRN TIER...SO WILL ADD POP GRADIENT TO FCST AREA LIKELY NRN MTNS TAPERING TO SLIGHT CHANCE SC/GA/CLT METRO. SOME MINOR MODIFICATIONS TO TEMPS OUTSIDE OF MTNS...BUT THESE DO NOT AFFECT THE ZONES. ADDED PATCHY DENSE FOG AGAIN GIVEN HIGH DEW POINTS AND FOG ALREADY FORMING AT AND. MOST LIKELY LOCATIONS MTN VALLEYS AND NEAR BODIES OF WATER. .GSP... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. RWH
Hazardous weather outlook, May 8, 4:14 AM EDT, 23 hours 17 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-081100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 414 AM EDT THU MAY 8 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA... UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. ISOLATED STORMS MAY REACH SEVERE INTENSITY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THERE IS A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. ISOLATED STORMS MAY REACH SEVERE INTENSITY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED. RB
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 9, 3:07 AM EDT, 24 minutes before
NCZ033-034-049-050-054-055-090800- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 307 AM EDT FRI MAY 9 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS TO AFFECT THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS AND NORTHERN FOOTHILLS IN THE PREDAWN HOURS... AT 305 AM...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS RUMBLING ACROSS NORTHEAST TENNESSEE. THE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT AROUND 40 MPH...AND WILL BEGIN AFFECTING THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS...ESPECIALLY AVERY COUNTY...WITHIN THE HOUR. THESE STORMS HAVE A HISTORY OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL...AND DAMAGING WINDS. ALTHOUGH SOME WEAKENING IS PROBABLE...THE APPROACHING LINE OF STORMS COULD REMAIN POTENT ENOUGH TO PRODUCE SOME WIND DAMAGE OR LARGE HAIL IN THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS...AND DOWNSTREAM INTO THE NORTHERN FOOTHILLS. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL CONTINUE TO CLOSELY MONITOR THESE STORMS AND ISSUE WARNINGS AS NECESSARY. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR THE MEDIA FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION. BURRUS
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North Carolina, 2003Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2003
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.