Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 331, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

August 5, 2003Mecklenburg County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 5, 2003, 5:15 PM EDT for Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. It was in force for 60 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 5, 2003, 5:15 PM EDT (21:15 UTC)
Expired: Aug 5, 2003, 6:15 PM EDT
In force: 60 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Mecklenburg County, NC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 131 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:19 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 5, 1:20 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 124 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: 249 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -125 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 963 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 59 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

400 
WUUS52 KGSP 052115
SVRGSP
NCC119-052215-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
514 PM EDT TUE AUG 5 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN MECKLENBURG COUNTY IN THE PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 615 PM EDT

* AT 514 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM 9 MILES EAST OF GASTONIA...OR ABOUT 5 MILES WEST OF
  PAW CREEK...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  PAW CREEK AT 520 PM EDT.
  CROFT AT 530 PM EDT.
  NEWELL AT 545 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 3538 8098 3518 8101 3517 8069 3539 8072

$$
BPM/RB

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 Aug 5, 2:56 PM EDT, 2 hours 19 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 5, 2:56 PM EDT, 2 hours 19 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
256 PM EDT TUE AUG 5 2003

CONVECTION ASSOCIATED WITH UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE DEVELOPING IN W AND
SPREADING E. ALTHOUGH SHORTWAVE EXPECTED TO MOVE THROUGH AREA RATHER
QUICKLY...WILL NEED TO CARRY HIGH POPS COINCIDENT WITH SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCHES EARLY THIS EVENING.

UPPER LEVEL TROUGH AXIS TO LINGER OVER E THIS PACKAGE...WITH
ABUNDANT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE REMAINING ALONG AND E OF MOUNTAINS. WEAK
BOUNDARY STILL HINTED AT BY MODELS...MOVING INTO WED AND REMAINING
THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. WEAK UPPER IMPULSES WILL PROVOKE SCATTERED
CONVECTION EACH AFTERNOON AND EVENING...AND WITH NO REAL CHANGE IN
AIR MASS...POPS AND TEMPERATURES NEAR PERSISTENCE THROUGH DAY 7.

FCSTID =    7
GSP   68  86  69  86 /  60  40  40  40
AND   69  88  69  88 /  60  40  40  40
CLT   68  87  69  87 /  60  40  40  40
HKY   65  85  67  84 /  60  40  40  40
AVL   62  82  64  81 /  60  40  40  40

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

O7

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 5, 5:05 AM EDT, 12 hours 10 minutes before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-051100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
505 AM EDT TUE AUG 5 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OVER THE WESTERN CAROLINAS
AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA TODAY. A FEW OF THESE STORMS COULD REACH
SEVERE LEVELS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. LOCALIZED HEAVY RAINFALL
CAN ALSO BE ANTICIPATED. SEE THE LATEST SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
(CAESPSGSP) FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE PERIOD...MAINLY
IN THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. WITH THE GROUND NEARLY SATURATED
RAINFALL WILL RUNOFF INTO NEARBY STREAMS AND CREEKS. IF THESE HEAVY
RAIN PRODUCING THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP THROUGHOUT THE WEEK AS
EXPECTED...FLOODING MAY RESULT. SEE THE LATEST FLOOD POTENTIAL
OUTLOOK (ESFGSP) FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

NED

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 5, 1:20 PM EDT, 3 hours 55 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
120 PM EDT TUE AUG 05 2003

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

1000 PM    GREER                     SC   WIND DAMAGE
08/04/03   GREENVILLE                     GREER PUBLIC WORKS
                                          REPORTED NUMEROUS TREES
                                          AND POWERLINES DOWNED ON
                                          VICTOR MILLS AND OLD
                                          WOODRUFF ROADS...CAUSING
                                          CONSIDERABLE POWER
                                          OUTAGES.

LAMB

Local storm report, Aug 5, 3:49 PM EDT, 1 hour 26 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
349 PM EDT TUE AUG 05 2003

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

346 PM     14 NW GASTONIA            NC   1.00 INCH HAIL
08/05/03   GASTON                         HAM RADIO OPERATOR
                                          REPORTED QUARTER-SIZED
                                          HAIL IN CHERRYVILLE.

BURRUS

Local storm report, Aug 5, 4:15 PM EDT, 1 hour before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
415 PM EDT TUE AUG 05 2003

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

414 PM     LINCOLNTON                NC   .75 INCH HAIL
08/05/03   LINCOLN                        COUNTY 911 REPORTED DIME
                                          SIZE HAIL IN DOWNTOWN.

LAMB

Local storm report, Aug 5, 5:09 PM EDT, 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
509 PM EDT TUE AUG 05 2003

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

418 PM     SHARON                    SC   WIND DAMAGE
08/05/03   YORK                           TREE DOWN.

439 PM     CLOVER                    SC   WIND DAMAGE
08/05/03   YORK                           TREE AND POWERLINES DOWN
                                          ON HIGHWAY 45.

RB

    LOTS MID WHEEL LEVEL.
                                          MANY ROADWAYS COVERED
                                          WITH WATER AND NUMEROUS
                                          POWER OUTAGES REPORTED.

KRENTZ

Local storm report, Aug 5, 5:09 PM EDT, 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
509 PM EDT TUE AUG 05 2003

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

418 PM     SHARON                    SC   WIND DAMAGE
08/05/03   YORK                           TREE DOWN.

439 PM     CLOVER                    SC   WIND DAMAGE
08/05/03   YORK                           TREE AND POWERLINES DOWN
                                          ON HIGHWAY 45.

RB

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 4, 8:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Henderson	75 min
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, 5:23 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Iredell	52 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in North 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.