Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 137, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

May 16, 2003Laurens County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 2003, 10:35 PM EDT for Laurens County, South Carolina. It was in force for 55 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 16, 2003, 10:35 PM EDT (02:35 UTC)
Expired: May 16, 2003, 11:30 PM EDT
In force: 55 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Laurens County, SC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 61 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:36 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

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 00:00Z, 2.6 hours before the alert went out and 245 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: 5300 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -26 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 745 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 16 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 50 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 9.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS52 KGSP 170235
SVRGSP
SCC059-170330-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1035 PM EDT FRI MAY 16 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN LAURENS COUNTY IN UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 1130 PM EDT

* AT 1035 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM 10 MILES SOUTH OF LAURENS...OR ABOUT 4 MILES NORTH OF
  CROSS HILL...MOVING SOUTH AT 10 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  CROSS HILL AT 1050 PM EDT.

PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM SHOULD BE ALERT FOR
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY
RAIN CAN OCCUR WITH ANY THUNDERSTORM.

LAT...LON 3451 8188 3445 8213 3427 8205 3422 8194
          3433 8185

$$

NED

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 16, 9:39 PM EDT, 56 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 16, 9:39 PM EDT, 56 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
939 PM EDT FRI MAY 16 2003

CONVECTION STILL ONGOING OVER THE THE UPSTATE OF SC AND THE LOWER
PIED OF NC...WILL EXPECT ACTIVITY TO WIND DOWN TO SHOWERS AFTER
MIDNIGHT. WITH A MOIST ATMOS WILL EXPECT WEAK UPGLIDE AND A LITTLE
INSTABILITY TO YIELD SCT SHOWERS OVERNIGHT OVER THE FA. WILL ALSO
ADD PATCHY FOG TO THE FORECAST AND INCREASE TEMPS A CLICK.

AS THE PLAINS LOW APPROACHES WILL BETTER DYNAMICS AND STRONGER
UPGLIDE COVERAGE WILL INCREASE THROUGH SAT. 18Z MESOETA SHOWING
HEALTHY WEDGE WORKING OVER THE AREA AND WILL GO AHEAD WILL DROP
TEMPS DOWN INTO THE U60S OVER THE NC FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT...THIS
MAY STILL BE TOO WARM.

FCSTID =   16
GSP   64  73  58  70 /  40  60  50  50
AND   63  74  59  70 /  40  60  50  50
CLT   63  71  57  70 /  40  50  50  50
HKY   61  67  55  66 /  40  50  50  50
AVL   60  71  56  68 /  40  60  50  50

.GSP...
GA...NONE.
NC...NONE.
SC...NONE.

NED

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 16, 7:41 PM EDT, 2 hours 54 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
741 PM EDT FRI MAY 16 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

735 PM     3 N GREER                 SC   .75 INCH HAIL
05/16/03   GREENVILLE                     PENNY SIZED HAIL REPORTED
                                          BY SKYWARN SPOTTER.

MOORE

Local storm report, May 16, 8:40 PM EDT, 1 hour 55 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
840 PM EDT FRI MAY 16 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

730 PM     4 NW GREER                SC   .75 INCH HAIL
05/16/03   GREENVILLE                     REPORTED BY SKYWARN
                                          SPOTTER.

NED

Local storm report, May 16, 9:59 PM EDT, 36 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
959 PM EDT FRI MAY 16 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

730 PM     4 NW GREER                SC   WIND DAMAGE
05/16/03   GREENVILLE                     4 FT DIAMETER OAK
                                          UPROOTED AND BLOWN DOWN
                                          ONTO HOUSE.  5 OTHER
                                          TREES DOWN ON ROAD.
                                          DAMAGE OCCURRED NEAR
                                          INTERSECTION OF GROCE
                                          MEADOW RD AND MAYS BRIDGE
                                          RD. REPORTED BY LAKE
                                          CUNNINGHAM FD.

741 PM     3 NW GREER                SC   1.00 INCH HAIL
05/16/03   GREENVILLE                     PEA TO QUARTER SIZED HAIL
                                          AT LAKE CUNNINGHAM FIRE
                                          STATION. HAIL BEGAN AT
                                          730 PM. REPORTED BY FD.

MOORE

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 16, 10:14 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Cherokee, York	61 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South Carolina, 2003 Every 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.