Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 256, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 18, 2003, 3:57 PM EDT for Rutherford County, North Carolina. It was in force for 48 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
- Jul 18, 2003, 3:57 PM EDT (19:57 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 18, 2003, 4:45 PM EDT
- In force
- 48 min
- Issued by
- NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Rutherford County, NC
The radar
The Greer radar (KGSP), 65 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:59 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 12:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 216 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
- 999 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -27 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1023 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 10 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 21 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 65 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
201
WUUS52 KGSP 181957
SVRGSP
NCC161-182045-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
357 PM EDT FRI JUL 18 2003
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A
* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
WESTERN RUTHERFORD COUNTY IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
* UNTIL 445 PM EDT
* AT 357 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM 13 MILES NORTH OF COLUMBUS...OR ABOUT OVER LAKE
LURE...MOVING EAST AT 5 MPH.
* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
LAKE LURE AT 400 PM EDT.
THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED BECAUSE THERE IS A
GOOD CHANCE OF BRIEF DAMAGING WINDS OVER SMALL AREAS...AND PERHAPS
LARGE HAIL. THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS ALSO CAUSING AN UNUSUAL
AMOUNT OF CLOUD-TO-GROUND LIGHTNING
LAT...LON 3552 8219 3546 8226 3540 8227 3538 8207
3552 8205
$$
NEDWhat 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 Jul 18, 3:00 PM EDT, 57 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 18, 3:00 PM EDT, 57 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 300 PM EDT FRI JUL 18 2003 SURFACE FRONT STRETCHES FROM SRN PA THROUGH THE OHIO VALLEY AT 18Z THIS AFTERNOON. LEE TROUGHING IS OBSERVED THROUGH THE WESTERN CAROLINAS...WITH LAPS ANALSYS INDICATING BEST LOW LEVEL MOISTURE FLUX CONVERGENCE ALONG THE BLUE RIDGE IN NC. SOUNDINGS INDICATE CAPE VALUES ABOVE 3000 J/KG OUTSIDE THE MOUNTAINS WITH MUCH LESS CAPPING OF WARM MID LEVEL TEMPS EVIDENT. CONVECTION SHOULD INITIATE EARLIER TODAY...AND RADAR INDEED SHOWS TSRA FANNING OUT ALONG THE ESCARPMENT PRESENTLY. LOW WET BULB ZERO HEIGHTS ALONG WITH STEEP LAPSES OF EQUIV POTENTIAL TEMPERATURES FROM THE SFC TO 700 MB SUGGEST THAT HAIL AND DAMAGING DOWNBURST WINDS WILL BE POSSIBLE ANY CONVECTION. IR IMAGERY DEPICTS STRONG MCS OVER THE SRN TIP OF ILLINOIS AND STEERING CURRENT SHOULD DRIVE THE BULK OF THIS CONVECTION SOUTHWARD ALONG THE MS RIVER VALLEY. PROMINENT 500 MB SHORTWAVE IS INDICATED BY THE MODELS...HOWEVER...TO SWING SOUTHEAST AND CROSS THE SRN APPALACHIANS OVERNIGHT. THIS FORCING WILL INCREASE AS FRONTAL SYSTEM ALSO SLOWLY APPROACHES FROM THE N. WILL THUS NEED SOLID CHC POPS TO CONTINUE OVERNIGHT WITH THE BEST CHANCES LATE OVER THE MTNS AND THE NRN TIER. UPPER WAVE EXITS TO THE EAST EARLY IN THE DAY...THEN THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY SAGS INTO THE REGION AND STALLS. LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE AND INSTABILITY WILL ONCE AGAIN BE FAVORABLE FOR CHC POPS THROUGHOUT THE DAY. SOME DRYING IS THEN INDICATED BETWEEN UPPER TROUGHS ON SUNDAY WITH WEAK SHORTWAVE RIDGING IN PLACE. ETA INSTABILITIES BUBBLE BACK TO 2000 TO 3000 CAPES BUT WITH SOME CAPPING EVIDENT. HEIGHTS THEN FALL IN EARNEST THROUGH THE EARLY WEEK. THE GFS PAINTS A SEVERE WEATHER SCENARIO AS 850 MB JET WRAPS INTO THE AREA COINCIDENT WITH THE APPROACH OF AN UNSEASONABLY STRONG COLD FRONT AND SIGNIFICANT UPPER FORCING. WILL NEED CHANCE POPS FROM PM MONDAY THROUGH WED WITH THE BEST CHC TUE. SOME UNCERTAINTY WITH DRYING AND TROUGH AXIS PROGRESSION FOR THU AND FRI...BUT DRY WEATHER STILL LOOKS GOOD. FCSTID = 33 GSP 70 86 69 88 / 40 50 30 20 AND 70 87 69 89 / 40 50 30 20 CLT 70 85 68 88 / 40 50 30 20 HKY 68 84 66 86 / 50 50 30 20 AVL 65 83 63 84 / 50 50 30 20 .GSP... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. HG
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 18, 5:47 AM EDT, 10 hours 10 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-181145- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 547 AM EDT FRI JUL 18 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA... UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING TORRENTIAL RAIN AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING. A FEW OF THE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THUNDERSTORMS WILL LINGER INTO SATURDAY MORNING...WITH MORE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER THE REGION SATURDAY AFTERNOON. ONCE AGAIN...A FEW OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE. THERE WILL BE A GOOD CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED. MCAVOY
In the hours before
Local storm report, Jul 18, 10:18 AM EDT, 5 hours 39 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
1018 AM EDT FRI JUL 18 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
835 PM 7 WNW CLAYTON GA FLASH FLOOD
07/17/03 RABUN COOP OBSERVER REPORTED 20
FOOT SECTION OF ROAD
FLOODED NEAR HWY 76 IN
THE PERSIMMON COMMUNITY.
TJBSpecial weather statement, Jul 18, 11:16 AM EDT, 4 hours 41 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-182100- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 1116 AM EDT FRI JUL 18 2003 ...A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT... A MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS WILL REMAIN OVER THE REGION TODAY AND TONIGHT. A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE WESTERN CAROLINAS LATE TONIGHT...THEN DISSIPATE ON SATURDAY. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OVER THE MOUNTAINS OF THE WESTERN CAROLINAS LATE THIS AFTERNOON...AND DRIFT INTO THE FOOTHILLS AND UPSTATE EARLY THIS EVENING. A FEW OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BE SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BECOME MORE NUMEROUS ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 40 BY LATE EVENING. THIS AREA WILL HAVE THE BEST CHANCE OF SEEING DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. HOWEVER...AN ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE POSSIBLE JUST ABOUT ANYWHERE OVER THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA BY EARLY EVENING. A SECOND ROUND OF THUNDERSTORMS MAY MOVE INTO THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS AFTER MIDNIGHT...AS THE WEAK COLD FRONT ENTERS THE REGION. DEPENDING ON HOW STABLE THE ATMOSPHERE BECOMES LATER TONIGHT...THESE STORMS WILL ALSO HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE ISOLATED AREAS OF DAMAGING WIND AND LARGE HAIL. AS STORMS WILL BE SLOW MOVING LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING... THERE WILL ONCE AGAIN BE A THREAT OF LOCALIZED FLOODING. FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION...CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT WWW.ERH.NOAA.GOV/GSP SPOTTER GROUPS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO ACTIVATE QUICKLY LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. DISPATCHERS SHOULD ENSURE COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS ARE AWARE OF THIS INFORMATION. NED
The office that day
Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 18, 3:18 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Henderson, Transylvania | 42 min |
| Jul 18, 3:49 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Caldwell | 56 min |
| Jul 18, 4:35 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | McDowell | 40 min |
| Jul 18, 5:09 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Caldwell | 51 min |
| Jul 18, 5:38 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Buncombe | 52 min |
| Jul 18, 6:38 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Davie | 52 min |
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.