Alert archive / North Carolina / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 68, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

May 3, 2003Polk County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 2003, 4:39 PM EDT for Polk County, North Carolina. It was in force for 51 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: May 3, 2003, 4:39 PM EDT (20:39 UTC)
Expired: May 3, 2003, 5:30 PM EDT
In force: 51 min
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Polk County, NC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 43 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:42 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
May 3, 3:20 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 230 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: 3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -94 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1075 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -29 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 141 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.

958 
WUUS52 KGSP 032039
SVRGSP
NCC149-032130-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
439 PM EDT SAT MAY 3 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  POLK COUNTY IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 530 PM EDT

* AT 439 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM 3 MILES WEST OF COLUMBUS...OR ABOUT 3 MILES NORTH OF
  TRYON...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  COLUMBUS AT 445 PM EDT.
  MILL SPRING AT 450 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 3524 8235 3530 8233 3535 8228 3535 8210
          3520 8197 3520 8235

$$

RWH/JT

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 May 3, 3:25 PM EDT, 1 hour 14 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 3, 3:25 PM EDT, 1 hour 14 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
325 PM EDT SAT MAY 3 2003

UPDATE: UPDATING FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH 221 ALONG AND E OF
BLUE RIDGE.

SHORTWAVE MOVES SE ACROSS VA TONIGHT...SUPPORTING BEST CHANCE OF
CONVECTION ALONG I-40 CORRIDOR. COLD FRONT DROPS S THROUGH
AREA...REDUCING MOISTURE ENOUGH BY SUN TO DROP POPS. BY SUN NIGHT
SURFACE RIDGE ALONG EASTERN SEABOARD...WITH ISENTROPIC LIFT BRINGING
CLOUDS AND POPS BACK INTO FORECAST. ATMOSPHERE STABLE SUN NIGHT
...BUT DESTABILIZES MON AND TUE AS WEDGE LIKE FEATURE BEGINS TO
ERRODE...GULF OPENS...AND TN VALLEY COLD FRONT APPROACHES. REMNANTS
OF FRONT REACH AREA TUE.

COLD FRONT STALLS ACROSS THE AREA AS WAVES OF LOW PRESSURE MOVE
ALONG IT WEDNESDAY. FRONT SLOWLY MOVES SOUTH OF THE AREA FRIDAY AS
HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN FROM THE NORTH. SFC RIDGING CONTINUES
SATURDAY. LEFT CONVECTION IN THRU THU. KEPT TEMPS CLOSE TO GUIDANCE.
THIS MEANT RAISING MAXES THRU MUCH OF THE PERIOD. COOLER TEMPS BY
DAY 7.

FCSTID =    7
GSP   56  74  57  71 /  40  10  40  50
AND   56  75  59  73 /  30  10  40  50
CLT   54  74  54  69 /  40  10  40  40
HKY   51  72  53  64 /  50  10  30  40
AVL   49  70  56  67 /  40  10  30  40

.GSP...
GA...NONE.
NC...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 040000 ALONG AND E OF BLUE
RIDGE..
SC...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 040000 EXCEPT ABBEVILLE AND
GREENWOOD.

O7

Hazardous weather outlook, May 3, 5:30 AM EDT, 11 hours 9 minutes before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-031130-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
530 AM EDT SAT MAY 3 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL REDEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS THE
APPALACHIAN MOUNTAINS...AND MOVE ACROSS THE FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT
OF THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA DURING THE AFTERNOON
AND EVENING. IN ASSOCIATION WITH THESE STORMS...ANOTHER OUTBREAK OF
SEVERE WEATHER IS POSSIBLE ACROSS THE AREA. PLEASE SEE CAESPSGSP FOR
DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON.

LANE

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 3, 4:22 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Henderson	38 min
May 3, 4:44 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Davie	46 min
May 3, 4:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Alexander	45 min
May 3, 4:56 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Henderson	49 min
May 3, 5:17 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Iredell	58 min
May 3, 5:26 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Alexander	49 min
May 3, 6:07 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Catawba	53 min
May 3, 6:28 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Iredell	47 min
May 3, 6:30 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Rowan	60 min
May 3, 6:59 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Catawba	46 min
May 3, 7:03 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Cabarrus	57 min
May 3, 7:42 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Iredell	48 min
May 3, 7:53 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	GSP	Catawba, Iredell	2 hr

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.