Alert archive / South Carolina / Special Weather Statements in 2012

Special Weather Statement, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

April 2, 2012Greenville County, South Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this special weather statement at Apr 2, 2012, 6:39 PM EDT for Greenville County, South 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
Apr 2, 2012, 6:39 PM EDT (22:39 UTC)
Expired
Apr 2, 2012, 7:30 PM EDT
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

County Greenville County, SC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 28 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:39 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

Charleston AFB, SC (KCHS), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 320 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 2012-04-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 313 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, Charleston AFB, SC at 12:00Z on 2012-04-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 45 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
313 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-100 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1154 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
45 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
24 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.

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this special weather statement 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 special weather statement went out at Apr 2, 2:47 PM EDT, 3 hours 52 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 2, 2:47 PM EDT, 3 hours 52 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
247 PM EDT MON APR 2 2012

.SYNOPSIS...
A COLD FRONT WILL SLOWLY CROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS FROM THE
NORTHEAST THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING...THEN MOVE BACK NORTH
AS A WARM FRONT ON WEDNESDAY.  ANOTHER COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO
MOVE THROUGH THE AREA LATE THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY.

&&

.NEAR TERM /THROUGH TUESDAY/...
AS OF MID AFTERNOON...THE EXPECTED LULL HAS ENDED AND CONVECTIVE
INITIATION HAS TAKEN PLACE NEAR THE SURFACE BOUNDARY AT 18Z. SURFACE
BASED CAPE CONTINUES TO CLIMB INTO THE 1000-2000 J/KG RANGE TO THE S
AND W OF THE BOUNDARY. SOMEWHAT DRIER AIR OVER THE UPSTATE ALSO HAS
YIELDED FAVORABLE DCAPE VALUES FOR WET MICROBURSTS. CANNOT ARGUE
WITH LATEST SPC MESOSCALE DISCUSSION 0414 AND EXPECT TO SEE A FEW
CELLS THAT PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS. THE PRIMARY
FOCUS SHOULD SHIFT TO THE CENTRAL AND SRN MTNS...WRN UPSTATE...AND
NE GEORGIA IN THE EARLY EVENING AS THE FRONT WRAPS AROUND AND ALIGNS
WITH THE SAVANNAH RIVER. THE FRONT SHOULD STALL IN THAT GENERAL
VICINITY OVERNIGHT...WHICH COULD RESULT IN CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY
PERSISTING THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. DEEPER MOISTURE IS
EXPECTED TO SETTLE OVER THE SRN MTNS AND PROVIDE SOME FUEL FOR HEAVY
RAIN LATE TONIGHT...SO THAT BEARS WATCHING. THE FRONT WILL ALSO
PROVIDE A GRADIENT IN MIN TEMPS...PERHAPS AS MUCH AS 15 DEGREES OR
SO FROM THE NW PIEDMONT NEAR 50 TO NE GEORGIA IN THE LOWER 60S.

ON TUESDAY...THE OLD FRONT WILL STILL BE IN THE AREA. WEAK HIGH
PRESSURE SHOULD SLIP PAST ON THE COAST IN THE MORNING SUCH THAT BY
LATE IN THE DAY A LIGHT S FLOW SHOULD BE UNDERWAY. OTHER WEAK VORT
CENTERS WILL ALSO APPROACH AND UNDERCUT THE UPPER RIDGE FROM THE SW.
THIS WILL FAVOR A SHOWER/THUNDERSTORM CHANCE ONCE AGAIN OVER THE
HIGHER TERRAIN AND DOWN THE SAVANNAH RIVER VALLEY. THE SREF PRECIP
PATTERN LOOKS REASONABLE BUT THE MAGNITUDE LOOKS OVERDONE. HAVE
LIMITED THE POP TO 40 PERCENT FOR THE TIME BEING. TEMPS WERE KEPT
NEAR A BLEND OF THE GUIDANCE.

&&

.SHORT TERM /TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/...
AS OF 215 PM MONDAY...THIS VERY ACTIVE PATTERN CONTINUES THROUGH MID
WEEK AS A CUT OFF UPPER LOW SLOWLY TRACKS ROUGHLY EAST FROM NEW
MEXICO TUESDAY EVENING. THE FRONT OVER GEORGIA WILL SLOWLY DISSIPATE
TUESDAY NIGHT. CAPE VALUES EARLY IN THE EVENING WILL BE AROUND 1000
OVER FAR WESTERN ZONES...MAINLY NE GA TO AROUND FONTANA LAKE.  THE
WEATHER SHOULD BE FAIRLY QUIET LATE TUESDAY NIGHT ALTHOUGH THE NAM
HINTS AT ACTIVITY A LITTLE MORE EAST THAN THE FAR WESTERN MOUNTAINS.

WEDNESDAY HIGH TEMPS SHOULD BE SEVERAL DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL
DEPENDING ON WHAT AREAS HAVE LATER ONSET OF SHOWERS AND STORMS.
EARLIER ONSET WILL KEEP TEMPS DOWN CLOSER TO NORMAL.  EACH MODEL HAS
VARIOUS TIMING DIFFERENCES BUT EACH MODEL HAS A SPOKE OF LINEAR
CONVECTION SPINNING FROM THE GULF STATES IN OUR DIRECTION WEDNESDAY
NIGHT AND THURSDAY.  THE GFS IS FASTER BUT HAS THIS FEATURE FADING
OUT AS IT REACHES THE NC MOUNTAINS.  THE NAM...SREF AND ECMWF KEEP
IT TOGETHER AND HAVE IT ARRIVING THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND CONTINUING
INTO EARLY EVENING AS IT PULLS UP TOWARD VIRGINIA.  TEMPERATURES
WILL BE A FEW DEGREES LOWER ON THURSDAY AS THIS DEEPER MOISTURE GETS
INTO OUR REGION.

CAPE VALUES ARE SHOWN TO BE A BIT HIGHER LATE WEDNESDAY AND LESS ON
THURSDAY.  POTENTIAL FOR ANY DAMAGING WIND EVENT WOULD BE GREATER
LATE WEDNESDAY.

&&

.LONG TERM /THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY/...
AS OF 1230 PM MONDAY...THE ACTIVE WEATHER PATTERN WILL CONTINUE INTO
THE EXTENDED PORTION OF THE FORECAST...BUT ONLY INTO FRIDAY...THEN A
QUIET WEEKEND.  AT 00Z FRIDAY...THE CUT OFF LOW IS SHOWN TO BE OVER
NORTHERN ARKANSAS ON THE ECMWF AND OVER ST LOUIS ON THE GFS. THE
ECMWF DIVES THIS LOW SE TO GEORGIA ON FRIDAY WHILE THE GFS MOVE THE
LOW ALMOST DUE EAST TO THE VIRGINIAS.  BOTH MODELS OPEN THE LOW UP
TO THE TROUGH MOVING OFF THE EAST COAST BY LATE FRIDAY AND THE GFS
THEN MOVES THE SHORTWAVE SE TO THE CAROLINA COAST FRIDAY NIGHT.  IN
SOME FORM...WE WILL HAVE PERIODS OF SHOWERS AND A STORM OR TWO UNTIL
THE SHORTWAVE MOVES OFF THE COAST FRIDAY NIGHT.  MUCH LOWER
THICKNESS VALUES AND EXTENSIVE CLOUD COVER SHOULD KEEP HIGH TEMPS A
FEW DEGREES BELOW NORMAL ON FRIDAY...PARTICULARLY FOR NC PIEDMONT
AND FOOTHILLS.

UPPER RIDGING COUPLED WITH SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE LOCATED TO OUR
NORTH OVER THE WEEKEND WILL GIVE US DRY WEATHER WITH NEAR NORMAL
TEMPERATURES.  A COLD FRONT ASSOCIATED WITH THE NEXT TROUGH WILL BE
APPROACHING FROM THE NORTHWEST EARLY NEXT WEEK AND RESULT IN
INCREASING CLOUDINESS.  AT THE CURRENT TIME...WILL ONLY INCLUDE
SIGHT POPS MONDAY NIGHT OF NEXT WEEK OVER THE NC MOUNTAINS.

&&

.AVIATION /19Z MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/...
AT KCLT...VFR EXPECTED FOR THE NEXT 12 HOURS. SATELLITE IMAGERY
SUGGESTS THE POSITION OF THE SURFACE FRONT CUTTING WEST TO EAST
ACROSS THE PIEDMONT. THIS COULD BE THE FOCUS FOR SHOWERS OR
THUNDERSTORMS LATER THIS AFTERNOON...BUT THAT IS NOT EXPECTED TO
HAPPEN UNTIL THE BOUNDARY MOVES TO THE SOUTHWEST OF THE CLT METRO
AREA. INSTEAD...HIGH BASED STRATOCU AND ALTOCU WILL PREVAIL. THE
FRONT SHOULD MOVE THROUGH SOME TIME IN THE MIDDLE PART OF THE
EVENING...WHICH WILL SHIFT THE WIND TO SOMETHING MORE NORTHEASTERLY.
THERE APPEARS TO BE LITTLE CHANCE FOR FOG LATE TONIGHT. ON
TUESDAY...WE COULD POP UP AN MVFR CEILING IN THE MIDDLE PART OF THE
MORNING AS THE BOUNDARY LAYER HEATS UP. CONFIDENCE ONLY BARELY HIGH
ENOUGH TO MENTION...THOUGH.

ELSEWHERE...A BACK DOOR COLD FRONT WILL SLOWLY DROP ACROSS THE
REGION THIS AFTERNOON...STALLING FOR A WHILE BETWEEN KGSP AND KAND
BY EARLY EVENING. THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD DEVELOP NEAR THE FRONTAL
BNDRY BY LATE AFTN...AND CONTINUE INTO THE NIGHT. CB/S HAVE BEEN
RETAINED AT THE UPSTATE TAFS AND KAVL TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS...AND WILL
AMEND AS STORMS DEVELOP. SOME OF THE STORMS TODAY WILL PRODUCE
STRONG OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES. LAMP GUIDANCE CONTINUES WITH THE IDEA
THAT A BROKEN LOW CLOUD CEILING WILL FORM IN THE MVFR RANGE AFTER
SUNRISE ON TUESDAY...BUT SHOULD SCATTER OUT AFTER ABOUT TWO HOURS.

OUTLOOK...ISOLATED TO SCATTERED MAINLY DIURNAL SHOWERS AND TSTMS
WILL BE POSSIBLE THRU THE PERIOD...WITH ASSOCIATED FLIGHT
RESTRICTIONS. TSTM CHC WILL INCREASE TOWARD MID-WEEK...AS A COLD
FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE WEST.

AN EXPERIMENTAL AVIATION FORECAST CONSISTENCY TABLE SHOWING THE
PERCENTAGE OF GUIDANCE MEMBERS AGREEING WITH THE SCHEDULED ISSUANCE
CATEGORY IS AVAILABLE AT FOLLOWING LINK (USE LOWER CASE)...

WWW.WEATHER.GOV/GSP/AVIATION/TABLES.HTM

&&

.GSP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
GA...NONE.
NC...NONE.
SC...NONE.

&&

SYNOPSIS...PAT
NEAR TERM...PM
SHORT TERM...DEO
LONG TERM...DEO
AVIATION...PM
Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 2, 5:30 PM EDT, 1 hour 9 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 2, 3:41 PM EDT, 2 hours 58 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
341 PM EDT MON APR 2 2012

SCZ009-014-022030-
CHESTER-YORK-
341 PM EDT MON APR 2 2012

...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT NORTHEASTERN CHESTER AND
SOUTHEASTERN YORK COUNTIES THROUGH 430 PM EDT...

AT 338 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR ROCK HILL...MOVING SOUTH AT 20 MPH.

THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR...
  ROCK HILL...
  CATAWBA...
  RICHBURG...

SMALL HAIL...AND WIND GUSTS OF 30 TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS
STORM.

LAT...LON 3466 8088 3465 8115 3503 8116 3504 8090
      3484 8086 3482 8089 3477 8086 3474 8087
      3470 8085

ARK
Local storm report, Apr 2, 5:35 PM EDT, 1 hour 4 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Special weather statement, Apr 2, 5:40 PM EDT, 59 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Special weather statement, Apr 2, 5:44 PM EDT, 55 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Special weather statement, Apr 2, 5:52 PM EDT, 47 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>
Special weather statement, Apr 2, 6:39 PM EDT, 0 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 2, 3:41 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementGSPYork49 min
Apr 2, 4:26 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPChester24 min
Apr 2, 5:40 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementGSPUnion50 min
Apr 2, 5:44 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementGSPGreenville46 min
Apr 2, 5:52 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementGSPPickens38 min
Apr 2, 6:45 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementGSPLaurens45 min
Apr 2, 6:49 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementGSPGreenwood41 min
Apr 2, 6:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPGreenville, Laurens, Spartanburg48 min
Apr 2, 7:48 PM EDTSpecial Weather StatementGSPLaurens42 min

Nearby

Special Weather Statements in South Carolina, 2012Every special weather statement in 2012

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.