Alert archive / South Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 342, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

August 9, 2003Oconee County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 9, 2003, 4:24 PM EDT for Oconee County, South Carolina. It was in force for 66 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 9, 2003, 4:24 PM EDT (20:24 UTC)
Expired
Aug 9, 2003, 5:30 PM EDT
In force
66 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Oconee County, SC

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

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 203 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2003-08-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 274 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2003-08-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -3 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
274 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-107 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1071 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
9 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS52 KGSP 092024
SVRGSP
SCC073-092130-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
424 PM EDT SAT AUG 9 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 530 PM EDT

* AT 424 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM 9 MILES SOUTHEAST OF WALHALLA...OR ABOUT 2 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF SENECA...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 5 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  OAKWAY AT 440 PM EDT.
  TOWNVILLE AT 525 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 3478 8295 3468 8313 3450 8296 3460 8286
          3469 8284

$$

MOORE

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 9, 3:17 PM EDT, 1 hour 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 9, 3:17 PM EDT, 1 hour 7 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
317 PM EDT SAT AUG 9 2003

AFTERNOON CONVECTION IN FULL SWING...WITH DAYTIME HEATING AND DRY
AIR ALOFT OVER A MOIST BOUNDARY LAYER INTERACTING WITH A WEAK UPPER
VORT. NOT MUCH STORM MOVEMENT...SO CELLS WILL NEED TO BE WATCHED
CAREFULLY FOR POTENTIAL EXCESSIVE RAINFALL. WILL HOLD OFF ON FLOOD
WATCH AT THIS JUNCTURE. EXPECT MOST ACTIVITY TO FADE BY
EVENING...AND PER RECENT TRENDS...HAVE INCLUDED PATCHY DENSE FOG
WORDING OVERNIGHT.

SUNDAY COULD BE INTERESTING IF THE ETA IS CORRECT IN ITS HANDLING OF
A STRONG VORT WHICH PIVOTS ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE LONGWAVE TROF AND
APPROACHES OUR MOUNTAINS TOMORROW EVENING. TIME HEIGHTS SHOW VERY
DRY AIR IN THE MID LEVELS...WITH WET BULB ZEROES PROGD BELOW 10K
FEET ACROSS HIGHER TERRAIN AND BELOW 11K FEET FOOTHILLS. GFS IS
SLOWER...BRINGING ITS SHORTAVE INTO THE REGION LATER IN THE SUNDAY
NITE PERIOD. REGARDLESS...CHANCE POPS IN ORDER ALL AREAS...HIGHEST
IN THE NORTH AND WEST. BOTH MODELS KEEP THIS FEATURE IN OUR VICINITY
FOR MOST OF SUNDAY NITE...ALTHOUGH BETTER DPVA WILL BE LIMITED TO
OUR FOOTHILLS AND THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS. MODELS ALSO ADVERTISE A
30H JETLET ROUNDING THE UPPER TROF THAT ENHANCES UPPER DIVERGENCE
OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN.

UPPER PATTERN SHOWS SIGNS OF CHANGE BEGINNING MONDAY WITH SLOW
RETROGRADE OF THE UPPER TROF AND ALLOWING ATLANTIC RIDGING TO SLOWLY
BUILD INTO THE CAROLINAS. WILL MAINTAIN CHANCE POPS FOR ALL
AREAS...WITH INCREASED LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND SLIGHTLY WARMER
TEMPERATURES.

FOR THE EXTENDED...MOST OF THE LONGER RANGE MODELS IN GENERAL
AGREEMENT KEEPING THE UPPER TROF TO OUR WEST. CANADIAN AND NOGAPS
QUITE INSISTENT ON PARKING A PIECE OF ATLANTIC RIDGING SQUARELY
OVER OUR FORECAST AREA. SURFACE BOUNDARY...MEANWHILE...MEANDERS
SLOWLY TO THE SOUTH...KEEPING POTENTIAL FOR UNSETTLED WEATHER FOR A
WHILE. KEPT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THROUGH SATURDAY
FOR ALL OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST
AREA. WE KEPT POPS BELOW CHANCE CATEGORY IN NORTH CAROLINA FRIDAY
AND SATURDAY...SINCE MOISTURE FLUX SHOULD BE CUT OFF FROM THOSE AREAS
IF RIDGE ALOFT DOES INDEED BUILD IN. INDICATED SLIGHT WARMING OF
TEMPERATURES THROUGH LATE WEEK...ALTHOUGH THERE IS BUST POTENTIAL
GIVEN INCREASINGLY LOW LEVEL UPSLOPE FLOW INTO THE REGION BY LATE
WEEK AND GFS HINTS THAT A SYSTEM OF TROPICAL ORIGIN MAY IMPACT
SOUTHEAST STATES AS NEXT WEEKEND NEARS.

FCSTID =   44
GSP   68  86  69  87 /  50  30  30  30
AND   68  87  69  88 /  50  30  30  30
CLT   69  86  69  87 /  50  30  30  30
HKY   65  85  66  86 /  50  40  40  40
AVL   63  82  64  83 /  50  40  40  40

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

BURRUS
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 9, 6:10 AM EDT, 10 hours 14 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-091215-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
610 AM EDT SAT AUG 9 2003

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

.DAY ONE...

AREAS OF MORNING FOG WILL GIVE WAY TO AN INCREASING THUNDERSTORM
COVERAGE AS THE DAY WEARS ON. LOCALIZED EXCESSIVE RAIN IS POSSIBLE
...AND EVEN A FEW SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION. FOR
FURTHER DETAILS...PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST SPECIAL WEATHER
STATEMENT...SPSGSP...ISSUED BY THIS OFFICE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

A DAILY CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 9, 4:36 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPGreenville, Pickens54 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.