Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 379, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

August 27, 2003McDowell County, Mitchell County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 27, 2003, 6:05 PM EDT for McDowell County, Mitchell County, North Carolina. It was in force for 40 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 27, 2003, 6:05 PM EDT (22:05 UTC)
Expired
Aug 27, 2003, 6:45 PM EDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties McDowell County, NC, Mitchell County, NC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 108 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:05 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 200 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2003-08-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1203 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2003-08-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 11 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
1203 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-141 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1787 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
11 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
31 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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 27, 11:05 AM EDT, 7 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 27, 11:05 AM EDT, 7 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1105 AM EDT WED AUG 27 2003

TODAY LOOKS CLOSE TO A CARBON COPY OF TUESDAY. 12Z OBSERVED
SOUNDINGS SHOW LOTS OF INSTABILITY AVAILABLE TODAY. STRONG
DIFFERENTIAL HEATING WILL OCCUR OVER THE MTNS WITH FULL SUN ABOVE
DENSE VALLEY FOG. IN FACT...LFC A LITTLE LOWER TODAY ALONG WITH WET
BULB ZERO. THIS IS CONSISTENT WITH FCST SOUNDINGS AND FCST COOLING
OF H7/5 TEMPS. EXPECT STRONG TO ISOLATED SVR STORMS OVER THE MTNS
GIVEN THE OCCURRENCE YESTERDAY AND OBSERVED PARAMETERS THIS MORNING.
WILL ISSUE SPS COVERING THIS. STILL LACK TRIGGER OUTSIDE OF MTNS SO
STILL NO POP THERE. ONLY MINOR CHANGE TO AFT HIGHS. MAINLY OPENING
UP OF RANGE JUST IN CASE TOO HIGH MOS FINALLY VERIFIES.

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

RWH
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 27, 6:03 AM EDT, 12 hours 2 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-271200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
603 AM EDT WED AUG 27 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OVER THE MOUNTAINS
OF THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON. A FEW
OF THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE STRONG WITH 40 TO 50 MPH
WINDS...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND SMALL HAIL. IN
ADDITION...THE STORMS WILL BE SLOW MOVING...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN
WILL BE POSSIBLE AS WELL.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE OVER THE
MOUNTAINS AGAIN THURSDAY AND FRIDAY...AND ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH
THE LABOR DAY WEEKEND.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.

MCAVOY

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 27, 5:15 PM EDT, 50 minutes before
NCZ034-272150-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
515 PM EDT WED AUG 27 2003

...A CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO REMAIN OVER
NORTHERN CALDWELL COUNTY THROUGH 550 PM...

AT 515 PM...A CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS REMAINING NEARLY
STATIONARY OVER THE NORTHERN EDGE OF CALDWELL COUNTY. AREAS FROM
FROM 4 MILES EAST OF SUGAR MOUNTAIN...THROUGH UPTON...TO 3
MILES WEST OF ELKVILLE MAY ENCOUNTER GUSTY WINDS TO 40 MPH AND HAIL
UP TO AN HALF INCH. IN ADDITION...HEAVY RAINFALL WILL ACCOMPANY
THESE STORMS...POSSIBLE LEADING TO MUDSLIDES OR ISOLATED FLOODING.
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE PROGRESS
OF THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.

NED

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 27, 5:30 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPCaldwell2 hr

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.