Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 175, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

June 16, 2003Laurens County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 16, 2003, 5:48 PM EDT for Laurens County, South Carolina. It was in force for 12 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
Jun 16, 2003, 5:48 PM EDT (21:48 UTC)
Expired
Jun 16, 2003, 6:00 PM EDT
In force
12 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), 62 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:51 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 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 241 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 2003-06-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1240 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 2003-06-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 31 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1240 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-43 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
728 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
25 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS52 KGSP 162148
SVRGSP
SCC059-162200-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
549 PM EDT MON JUN 16 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 600 PM EDT

* AT 549 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM 13 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LAURENS...OR ABOUT 3 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF JOANNA...MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  JOANNA AT 550 PM EDT.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WINDS CAN REACH SPEEDS OF 60 TO 100 MPH. THESE
WINDS BLOW DOWN TREES...POWER LINES...AND SEVERELY DAMAGE MOBILE
HOMES AND SOMETIMES BUILDINGS. VERY LARGE OR WIND-DRIVEN HAIL CAN
INJURE ANYONE CAUGHT OUTSIDE.

LAT...LON 3448 8192 3432 8197 3422 8194 3445 8173

$$

RBN

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 Jun 16, 3:20 PM EDT, 2 hours 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 16, 3:20 PM EDT, 2 hours 28 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
320 PM EDT MON JUN 16 2003

SURFACE FRONT HAS PUSHED INTO THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE FORECAST
AREA THIS AFTERNOON. LOW CLOUDS HAVE BEEN VERY SLOW TO ERODE IN THE
NC PIEDMONT TODAY...KEEPING THE AREA MORE STABLE THAN SC/GA AND THE
WRN MOUNTAINS. CONVECTION HAS DEVELOPED IN THE MORE UNSTABLE AREAS
AND THIS SHOULD STEADILY SPREAD EASTWARD ACROSS THE AREA THIS
EVENING...WITH THE STALLING SFC BOUNDARY REMAINING A FOCUS FOR
CONVECTION OVERNIGHT. PER COORDINATION WITH ADJACENT OFFICES...WILL
MAINTAIN THE EXISTING FLOOD WATCH FOR MUCH OF NORTH CAROLINA
TONIGHT. WILL LEAVE IT TO THE MID SHIFT TO ASSESS THE NEED FOR
EXTENSION INTO TUESDAY. ISOLATED FLOODING PROBLEMS COULD DEVELOP
OUTSIDE THE WATCH AREA FARTHER SW...BUT DEGREE OF TRAINING AWAY FROM
THE SURFACE BOUNDARY WILL BE VERY HARD TO ASSESS AND IS PROBABLY NOT
WORTH A WATCH AT PRESENT.

SFC BOUNDARY IS FORECAST TO REMAIN OVER THE NE THIRD OF THE FORECAST
AREA THROUGH TOMORROW WITH THE MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT THAT THE
BOUNDARY SLOWLY LIFTS BACK NORTH THROUGH WEDNESDAY. WILL GENERALLY
GO SLIGHTLY LOWER THAN GUIDANCE ON MAXES AND KEEP A SMALL DIURNAL
TEMP RANGE. DEEPER MOISTURE SHOWS UP IN TIME HEIGHTS AGAIN WED WITH
DEEP SW FLOW BUT LESS TRIGGERING AROUND. WILL OPT FOR SOLID CHC POPS
WED AFTN.

STRONG COLD FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE NORTHWEST ON THU WITH HIGHEST
EXTENDED RANGE POPS FEATURED FOR THU NIGHT. MODEL DISCREPANCIES THEN
BEGIN TO SHOW UP. THE GFS HAS BEEN FAIRLY CONSISTENT THE PAST THREE
RUNS WITH HANGING UP THE FRONT ACROSS THE SRN EDGE OF AREA WITH
RETURN FLOW MOISTURE BY SAT. GFS ALSO FEATURES TROUGH AXIS TO THE
WEST OVER THE MS VALLEY. WILL LEAN TOWARD ECM SOLUTION OF PLAINS
RIDGING AND MUCH LATER RETURN OF A WEAKER FRONT FOR LATE WEEKEND AND
RETURN TO DIURNAL AFTN CONVECTION.

FCSTID =   33
GSP   69  82  69  82 /  70  60  60  50
AND   69  84  69  83 /  60  60  60  50
CLT   69  81  69  82 /  70  70  70  50
HKY   67  77  67  79 /  80  70  70  50
AVL   65  77  64  78 /  70  70  70  50

.GSP...
GA...NONE.
NC...FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONES NCZ033>037...NCZ048>050...
NCZ053>057...NCZ065>072...NCZ082.
SC...NONE.

HG
Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 16, 6:22 AM EDT, 11 hours 26 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-161200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
622 AM EDT MON JUN 16 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA...
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT
AS IT MOVES SOUTH ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING. THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS.
ALONG AND A LITTLE BEHIND THE FRONT...THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL TEND TO
REFORM OVER THE SAME AREAS. THIS WILL RESULT IN LOCALIZED VERY HEAVY
RAIN ACROSS WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

MORE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE TUESDAY AND
WEDNESDAY. ON TUESDAY THE THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE HEAVY RAIN...WITH
A BETTER CHANCE OF DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL ON WEDNESDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT TO
REPORT SEVERE WEATHER AS WELL AS TO MONITOR STREAM LEVELS AND REPORT
RAINFALL TOTALS.

MCAVOY

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 16, 2:04 PM EDT, 3 hours 44 minutes before
NCZ053-065-161900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
204 PM EDT MON JUN 16 2003

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATES SIGNIFICANT THUNDERSTORMS
MOVING ACROSS BUNCOMBE AND HENDERSON COUNTIES IN NORTH CAROLINA.

BUNCOMBE COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT HAS REPORTED MARBLE SIZED
HAIL WITH THE STORMS IN THE AREA.  STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HEAVY RAIN
AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING ALSO CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS AS
THEY MOVE THROUGH THE AREA DURING THE NEXT HOUR.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR THE MEDIA FOR THE LATEST
INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.

DICARLO
Local storm report, Jun 16, 5:10 PM EDT, 38 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
510 PM EDT MON JUN 16 2003

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

455 PM     2 NE ST STEPHENS          NC   FLASH FLOOD
06/16/03   CATAWBA                        COUNTY EOC REPORTED WATER
                                          COVERING SPRINGS ROAD AND
                                          SAINT PETERS CHURCH ROAD
                                          IMPEDING TRAFFIC.

LAMB
Local storm report, Jun 16, 5:23 PM EDT, 25 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
523 PM EDT MON JUN 16 2003

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

515 PM     5 W STATESVILLE           NC   FLASH FLOOD
06/16/03   IREDELL                        COUNTY COMMS REPORTED
                                          FLOODING ON HIGHWAYS 70
                                          AND 90... AND ON BRISTOL
                                          ROAD IN THE WESTERN PART
                                          OF THE COUNTY... IMPEDING
                                          TRAFFIC.

508 PM     3 NNE ST STEPHENS         NC   WIND DAMAGE
06/16/03   CATAWBA                        COUNTY COMMS REPORTED
                                          MULTIPLE TREES DOWN AND
                                          PROPERTY DAMAGE NEAR LAKE
                                          HICKORY.

LAMB
Local storm report, Jun 16, 5:42 PM EDT, 6 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
542 PM EDT MON JUN 16 2003

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

455 PM     2 E BETHLEHEM             NC   WIND DAMAGE
06/16/03   ALEXANDER                      SHINGLES OFF
                                          ROOFS...TREES AND
                                          PWERLINES DOWN...REPORTED
                                          BY EMERGENCY MANAGER.

RB

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 16, 1:28 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPOconee62 min
Jun 16, 2:44 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPAbbeville46 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in South 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.