Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 321, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 4, 2003, 8:00 PM EDT for Henderson County, North Carolina. It was in force for 75 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
- Aug 4, 2003, 8:00 PM EDT (00:00 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 4, 2003, 9:15 PM EDT
- In force
- 75 min
- Issued by
- NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Henderson County, NC
The radar
The Greer radar (KGSP), 58 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:03 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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 4, 7:10 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 00:00Z, 0.0 hours before the alert went out and 246 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
- 1386 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -4 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1048 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 25 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 37 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 40 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 1.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
783
WUUS52 KGSP 042359
SVRGSP
NCC089-050115-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
759 PM EDT MON AUG 4 2003
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A
* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
HENDERSON COUNTY IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
* UNTIL 915 PM EDT
* AT 759 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF HENDERSONVILLE...OR ABOUT OVER
MILLS RIVER...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH.
* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
MOUNTAIN HOME AT 810 PM EDT.
HENDERSONVILLE AT 830 PM EDT.
EAST FLAT ROCK AT 845 PM EDT.
TUXEDO AT 850 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 3544 8261 3535 8267 3524 8253 3521 8238
3539 8227 3547 8227
$$
MOOREWhat 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 Aug 4, 2:23 PM EDT, 5 hours 37 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 4, 2:23 PM EDT, 5 hours 37 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 223 PM EDT MON AUG 4 2003 UPPER LEVEL TROUGH AXIS TO REMAIN W OF AREA. REMNANTS OF WEAK SURFACE BOUNDARY APPEAR TO REACH AREA LATE TUE...STALLING OVER AREA....WITH SURFACE WAVE MOVING INTO AREA FROM W WED. FIRST OF SEVERALE VORT LOBES MOVES ACROSS AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. LEFT POPS AT LIKELY NE THIS EVENING...WHERE GREATEST INSTABILITY EXPECTED...WITH HIGH CHANCE REST OF AREA. ANOTHER VORT LOBE TO PASS TO SW OF AREA LATE TUE. CARRIED CHANCE POPS...BEST IN WHERE VORT LOBE COMES CLOSEST. THIRD VORT MAX APPROACHES WED...AND CARRIED CHANCE POP ACROSS AREA. WITH VERY MOIST AIR MASS AND POSSIBLE BOUNDARY...LEFT SLIGHT CHANCE POPS LATE EACH NIGHT. WEAK COLD FRONT TO CROSS AREA EARLY THU...SUPPORTING ANOTHER DAY OF CHACNE POPS. TEMPERATURES NEAR PERSISTENCE EACH DAY...GENERALLY LOW TO MID 80S OVER MID TO UPPER 60S. POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE WEATHER TO EXIST THROUGH EARLY PART OF PACKAGE. ALTHOUGH LARGE SCALE QPF NOT EXPECTED TO VERY GREAT ON ANY GIVEN DAY...CUMULATIVE EFFECT ON ALREADY SOAKED SOIL COULD LEAD TO FLOODING BY MID WEEK. WILL ISSUE FLOOD POTENTIAL OUTLOOK. EXTENDED FORECAST FEATURES WEAK STATIONARY FRONT STALLED ACROSS CENTRAL CAROLINAS. CARRIED CHANCE POPS EACH AFTERNOON/EVENING WITH SLIGHT CHANCE LATE EACH NIGHT. TEMPERATURES AGAIN NEAR PERSISTENCE. FCSTID = 7 GSP 68 87 69 85 / 50 30 30 40 AND 68 88 69 85 / 50 30 30 40 CLT 68 88 70 85 / 60 30 30 40 HKY 65 85 67 83 / 60 30 30 40 AVL 62 83 64 81 / 50 40 40 40 .GSP... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. O7
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 4, 5:17 AM EDT, 14 hours 43 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-041115- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 517 AM EDT MON AUG 4 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA... UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME NUMEROUS TODAY...ESPECIALLY FROM THIS AFTERNOON TO MIDNIGHT. SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BECOME QUITE STRONG AND A FEW COULD REACH SEVERE LEVELS. LOCALIZED HEAVY RAINFALL CAN ALSO BE ANTICIPATED. SEE THE LATEST SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK (CAESPSGSP) FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEK. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WILL AUGMENT ONGOING ELEVATED WATER LEVELS...INCREASING THE CHANCES FOR FLOODING. IN ADDITION...THESE STORMS COULD ALSO BECOME QUITE STRONG AND A FEW COULD REACH SEVERE LEVELS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. NED
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Aug 4, 5:35 PM EDT, 2 hours 25 minutes before
NCZ068-042230- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 535 PM EDT MON AUG 4 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORM AFFECTING SOUTHERN CLEVELAND COUNTY... AT 530 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM LOCATED ABOUT 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SHELBY. THIS STORM WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING GUSTY WINDS OF 40 TO 50 MPH...SMALL HAIL...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...AND TORRENTIAL RAINFALL AS IT MOVES FROM NEAR EARL AND PATTERSON SPRING. THIS STORM COULD INTENSIFY TO SEVERE LEVELS RAPIDLY...AND THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS STORM FOR A POSSIBLE WARNING. LANE
Special weather statement, Aug 4, 6:12 PM EDT, 1 hour 48 minutes before
NCZ053-042255- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 612 PM EDT MON AUG 4 2003 ...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHWEST BUNCOMBE COUNTY... A VERY STRONG STORM JUST SOUTHWEST OF CANTO AT 610 PM WILL CONTINUE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 MPH THROUGH 7 PM. INTERESTS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD MONITOR IT/S PROGRESS...AND BE ALERT FOR FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...VERY HEAVY RAIN...AND POSSIBLY WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH AND HAIL. 55
Local storm report, Aug 4, 6:13 PM EDT, 1 hour 47 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
613 PM EDT MON AUG 04 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
540 PM NEBO NC LIGHTNING
08/04/03 MCDOWELL ***INJURED 2, DEAD 0***
SPOTTER REPORTED TWO
PERSONS STRUCK BY
LIGHTNING ON MARION LAKE
CLUB GOLF COURSE.
AIRLIFTED TO
HOSPITAL...MEDICAL
CONDITIONS UNKNOWN.
545 PM NEBO NC WIND DAMAGE
08/04/03 MCDOWELL HAM SPOTTER REPORTED ONE
TREE DOWN ON US-70 IN
NEBO. ALSO NUMEROUS
TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS DUE TO
REDUCED VISIBILITIES FROM
HVY RAIN.
LAMBSpecial weather statement, Aug 4, 6:19 PM EDT, 1 hour 41 minutes before
NCZ070-071-SCZ009-042315- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 619 PM EDT MON AUG 4 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING TOWARD THE CHARLOTTE METRO AREA... AT 612 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM LOCATED ABOUT 12 MILES SOUTHWEST OF GASTONIA...MOVING EAST AT AROUND 20 MPH. THIS STORM WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING GUSTY WINDS OF 40 TO 50 MPH...SMALL HAIL...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...AND HOURLY RAINFALL RATES BETWEEN 1 AND 2 INCHES PER HOUR AS IT TRACKS NEAR THE GASTON AND YORK COUNTY LINE THROUGH 7 PM. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THIS STORM COULD BRIEFLY INTENSIFY TO SEVERE LEVELS...AND THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS STORM CLOSELY FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS. THIS STORM IS EXPECTED TO REACH MECKLENBURG COUNTY BETWEEN 7 AND 730 PM. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION REGARDING THIS WEATHER SITUATION. LANE
Special weather statement, Aug 4, 7:10 PM EDT, 50 minutes before
NCZ070>072-SCZ009-050000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 710 PM EDT MON AUG 4 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS TO AFFECT THE CHARLOTTE METRO AREA THROUGH 8 PM... AT 705 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO WESTERN MECKLENBURG COUNTY. THESE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG WIND GUSTS OF 40 TO 50 MPH...TORRENTIAL RAINFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR...AND FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AS THEY MOVE ACROSS THE METRO AREA. PONDING OF WATER WILL LIKELY OCCUR ON STREETS AND HIGHWAYS ACROSS THE AREA...AND FLOODING OF LOW LYING AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS WILL BE POSSIBLE. THESE STORMS WILL CONTINUE TO BE MONITORED CLOSELY FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS. LANE
Local storm report, Aug 4, 7:19 PM EDT, 41 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
719 PM EDT MON AUG 04 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
710 PM ASHEVILLE NC WIND DAMAGE
08/04/03 BUNCOMBE BUNCOMBE 911 REPORTED
EXTENSIVE WIND DAMAGE
FROM ENKA THROUGH
ASHEVILLE TO WOODFIN.
NUMEROUS TREES AND
POWERLINES DOWN.
710 PM 3 W ASHEVILLE NC 1.75 INCH HAIL
08/04/03 BUNCOMBE BUNCOMBE 911 REPORTED
GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL. PEA
SIZE HAIL WAS OCCURRING
IN DOWNTOWN ASHEVILLE AT
911 CENTER.
LAMBThe office that day
Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 4, 8:06 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Buncombe, Henderson | 3 hr |
| Aug 4, 8:13 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Polk, Rutherford | 77 min |
| Aug 4, 8:37 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Rutherford | 3 hr |
| Aug 4, 9:22 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Union | 3 hr |
| Aug 5, 3:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Gaston, Lincoln | 61 min |
| Aug 5, 4:07 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Henderson | 3 hr |
| Aug 5, 4:56 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Gaston | 49 min |
| Aug 5, 5:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Mecklenburg | 60 min |
| Aug 5, 5:23 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Iredell | 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.