Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 263, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

July 19, 2003Union County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 19, 2003, 2:45 PM EDT for Union County, South Carolina. It was in force for 45 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 19, 2003, 2:45 PM EDT (18:45 UTC)
Expired: Jul 19, 2003, 3:30 PM EDT
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Union County, SC

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:46 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, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 224 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: 445 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -114 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1209 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -43 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 3 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: -0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS52 KGSP 191845
SVRGSP
SCC087-191930-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
244 PM EDT SAT JUL 19 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 330 PM EDT

* AT 244 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM 16 MILES SOUTHEAST OF UNION...OR ABOUT 6 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF CARLISLE...MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL CROSS OVER THE SUMTER NATIONAL FOREST
  AND AFFECT HIGHWAY 121.

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 3460 8153 3451 8161 3440 8146 3458 8134

$$
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 Jul 19, 11:25 AM EDT, 3 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 19, 11:25 AM EDT, 3 hours 20 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1125 AM EDT SAT JUL 19 2003

LATEST WV/IR LOOPS SHOW TWO S/WS...ONE CURRENTLY SPLITTING THE CWA
FROM SW TO NE...THE OTHER OVER KY. CURRENTLY RADAR SHOWS SH SLIPPING
OFF TO THE EAST...EXITING THE EAST NC PIEDMONT COUNTIES. MESOETA
BRING THE SECOND VORT MAX INTO THE FORECAST AREA AROUND 18Z. I WILL
EXPECT THAT CONVECTION WILL INITIATE OVER THE EASTERN SLOPES AS THE
MOISTURE BOUNDARY PASSES OVERHEAD. A SLOW MOVING WEAK COLD FRONT
WILL ENTER THE FA THIS EVENING...PROLONGING THE CONVECTION UNTIL
MIDNIGHT. WILL KEEP POPS IN THE CHC RANGE...HOWEVER WILL REPAINT
GRIDS TO LATEST THINKING. TEMPS AND DWPTS LOOK GOOD CONSIDERING THE
SLOW START FROM AM FOG AND CLOUDS.

SVR TS STILL EXPECTED. LOOKS LIKE MAIN THREAT WILL BE HAIL AND
WIND...WBZ HEIGHTS ARE LOW...DRY AIR OVER H7...CAPES 2500-3000 J/KG.
FFG GUIDANCE IS RATHER LOW...HOWEVER...WIND FIELDS ARE A LITTLE
QUICKER THAN DAYS PAST AND PWS WILL BE REDUCED TO <1.5. ISOLATED
FLASH FLOODING POSSIBLE AND WILL MENTION IN UPDATED SPS.

FCSTID =   16
GSP   86  69  88  69 /  40  30  10  10
AND   87  69  88  69 /  40  30  10  10
CLT   87  69  88  69 /  40  30  10  10
HKY   85  67  87  68 /  40  30  10  10
AVL   83  63  85  65 /  40  30  10  10

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

NED

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 19, 5:35 AM EDT, 9 hours 10 minutes before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-191145-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
535 AM EDT SAT JUL 19 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OVER THE REGION AGAIN TODAY. SOME OF
THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE
HAIL. SEE OUR SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK...UNDER THE PRODUCT I.D.
CAESPSGSP...FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AGAIN LATE MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY
AS AN UNSEASONABLY STRONG COLD FRONT MOVES INTO THE REGION. SOME OF
THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL STAND A GOOD CHANCE OF BEING SEVERE. IF THE
FRONT MOVES SLOWLY ENOUGH...THERE WILL ALSO BE A CHANCE OF LOCALIZED
FLOODING.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY.

MCAVOY

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 19, 9:27 AM EDT, 5 hours 18 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
927 AM EDT SAT JUL 19 2003

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

700 PM     5 E MOCKSVILLE            NC   WIND DAMAGE
07/18/03   DAVIE                          SPOTTER REPORTS 2 TREES
                                          BLOWN DOWN ON POWER
                                          LINES.

HG

Special weather statement, Jul 19, 11:49 AM EDT, 2 hours 56 minutes before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-192100-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1149 AM EDT SAT JUL 19 2003

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON...

THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AGAIN OVER THE WESTERN
CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON. THE COMBINATION OF
AN UPPER LEVEL AREA OF LOW PRESSURE...AND A WEAK COLD FRONT...WILL
RESULT IN CONDITIONS FAVORABLE FOR SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS TO
BECOME SEVERE.

THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON WILL MOVE FASTER AND BE MORE ORGANIZED
THAN THEY HAVE THE PAST FEW DAYS. THIS MEANS THAT LARGER AREAS MAY
SEE DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. CONVECTION IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN
OVER THE MOUNTAINS EARLY THIS AFTERNOON...THEN MOVE SOUTHEAST INTO
THE FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT. THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL EXIST
ACROSS THE ENTIRE REGION THIS AFTERNOON. HOWEVER...THE STORMS ARE
EXPECTED TO BE A LITTLE MORE WIDESPREAD OVER THE NORTH CAROLINA
FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT.

MULTIPLE STORMS MAY TRACK ACROSS THE SAME AREAS OR BECOME SLOW
MOVING...INCREASING THE CHANCES 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, 8:21 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Cherokee, Spartanburg	54 min
Jul 19, 6:41 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Anderson	49 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.