North Carolina, 2001

High Wind in North Carolina, April 17, 2001

April 17, 2001 · NWS GSP · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

A strong, Arctic high pressure system built over the southern Appalachians at mid month, producing not only record cold temperatures for this time of year, but also contributing to records for late season snowfall at some areas as a potent upper level disturbance affected the region later in the day. With a tight pressure gradient in place, surface winds gusted to between 40 and 55 mph at some…

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 4 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
  • Wind
  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
  • Fire, smoke and dust
  • Marine and coastal
  • Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
1
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
5

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What happened

The episode as NWS GSP wrote it up.

A strong, Arctic high pressure system built over the southern Appalachians at mid month, producing not only record cold temperatures for this time of year, but also contributing to records for late season snowfall at some areas as a potent upper level disturbance affected the region later in the day. With a tight pressure gradient in place, surface winds gusted to between 40 and 55 mph at some foothill and piedmont locations.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, 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 the first event at Apr 17, 3:14 AM EST, 4 hours 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 17, 3:14 AM EST, 4 hours 46 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
414 AM EDT TUE APR 17 2001

MDLS VERY CONSISTENT WITH EACH OTHER AND THROUGH TIME CONCERNING
UPPER LOW CARVING OUT TROF OVER THE EAST. RAIN OVER THE NRN MTNS
ATTM. TEMPS HAVE HELD STEADY PAST FEW HOURS AS BEST LOW LEVEL CAA
HOLDING OFF FOR A FEW MORE HOURS. PRECIP WILL BECOME ALL SNOW OVER
THE NRN MTNS WITH MORE OF A MIX AND MORE SCT CENTRAL MTNS. IF THIS
WAS WINTER...WOULD BE ISSUING WINTER STORM WARNING. HOWEVER...GROUND
TEMPS QUITE WARM. WILL LIKELY SNOW FOR SEVERAL HOURS BEFORE ANY
ACCUMULATION BEGINS. SECOND VORT MAX/COLD TROF MOVES THRU THIS
EVENING WITH MORE MOISTURE AND LIFT. COULD REACH ADVISORY SNOW
CRITERIA BY THEN. DUE TO UNCERTAINTY...WILL HOLD OFF FOR NOW. DAY
SHIFT MAY HAVE TO ISSUE IF CONDITIONS CHANGE. WILL ISSUE WIND
ADVISORY FOR THE NC MTNS FOR WINDS OVER 30 MPH. GOOD SCENARIO FOR 25
TO 35 MPH WIND WITH GUSTS AS HIGH AS 50 MPH. EVEN IF STRONGEST WINDS
WERE TO MIX DOWN HIGH WIND WARNING NOT LIKELY. WILL PROBABLY NEED
FREEZE WARNING FOR MTNS TONIGHT. HOWEVER SINCE SNOW/WIND MORE
IMMEDIATE CONCERN...WILL ALLOW DAY SHIFT TO CONSIDER.

OUTSIDE OF THE MTNS...WILL KEEP CHC RAIN/SNOW SHOWERS FOR NRN
FOOTHILLS. ELSEWHERE JUST SOME CLOUDS. WILL BE QUITE COLD TONIGHT.
HOWEVER...MARGINAL WHETHER FREEZING WILL BE REACHED LET ALONE FOR
LONG ENOUGH OF A DURATION FOR WARNING. WILL FCST FREEZING TEMPS AND
WILL HEADLINE ZONES TO INDICATE WARNING MAY BE NEEDED...BUT AGAIN
TRYING TO KEEP THINGS SIMPLE. A LITTLE WARMER WED...BUT FREEZE
WARNING MORE LIKELY WED NITE WITH GOOD RADIATIONAL CONDITIONS.

GSP   54  31  60  30 /  10   0   0   0
AND   54  30  60  29 /  10   0   0   0
CLT   54  30  59  29 /  10   0   0   0
HKY   50  29  55  29 /  20   0   0   0
AVL   42  27  50  28 /  50  40   0   0

.GSP...
GA...WIND ADVISORY FOR AREA LAKES.
NC...WIND ADVISORY THROUGH EVENING MTNS
     WIND ADVISORY FOR AREA LAKES ELSEWHERE.
SC...WIND ADVISORY FOR AREA LAKES.

RWH

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 17, 3:45 AM EST, 4 hours 15 minutes before
NCZ033-048>053-058-059-062>065-171500-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
445 AM EDT TUE APR 17 2001

...WINTER WEATHER IN THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS TODAY...

HIGH PRESSURE MOVING INTO THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS WILL BRING
COLD...WINDY CONDITIONS TO THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS TODAY.
MOISTURE MOVING ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS FROM THE NORTHWEST...WHEN
COMBINED WITH THE COLD...WILL SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF SNOW
SHOWERS...PRIMARILY IN AVERY...MITCHELL...YANCEY...AND MADISON
COUNTIES. SOUTH OF THIS AREA...THE SNOW SHOWERS WILL BE MIXED WITH
RAIN SHOWERS IN THE VALLEYS. PRECIPITATION WILL TAPER OFF LATE
TONIGHT.

GROUND TEMPERATURES REMAIN WARM FROM THE RECORD HEAT OF LAST WEEK.
IT WILL TAKE EITHER PROLONGED SNOWFALL...OR BRIEF HEAVY SNOWFALL...
TO PERMIT THE ACCUMULATION OF SNOW. AT THIS TIME IT APPEARS THAT THE
BEST CHANCE FOR AN ACCUMULATION IS FROM MADISON COUNTY...NORTH TO
AVERY COUNTY...WHERE UP TO AN INCH IS POSSIBLE. THE REST OF THE
MOUNTAINS SHOULD ONLY SEE LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS AT THE HIGHEST
ELEVATIONS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA OUTLET FOR
THE LATEST UPDATES CONCERNING THIS WINTER WEATHER EVENT.

JAT

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Caldwell

When
April 17, 8:00 AM EST to 5:00 PM EST
Where
Caldwell forecast zone
Measured
35 kt (40 mph)
Reported by
NEWSPAPER

Gusty winds were strong enough to cause scattered damage reports. In Iredell and Rowan counties, a number of trees were downed and a few caused power lines to fall, starting grass fires in the dry conditions. A few trees fell on houses. In Cleveland County, a tree fell on a mobile home in Patterson Springs, and a number of tree limbs were blown down. In Hickory, the wind fanned the flames of a fire at a car dealership. In Charlotte, a number of trees and limbs fell. One 60-foot section of a tree fell on a car, resulting in a fatality.

High Wind, Cleveland

When
April 17, 8:00 AM EST to 5:00 PM EST
Where
Cleveland forecast zone
Measured
35 kt (40 mph)
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
35.334, -81.556 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Iredell

When
April 17, 8:00 AM EST to 5:00 PM EST
Where
Iredell forecast zone
Measured
35 kt (40 mph)
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
35.807, -80.873 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Mecklenburg

When
April 17, 8:00 AM EST to 5:00 PM EST
Where
Mecklenburg forecast zone
Measured
50 kt (58 mph)
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
35.247, -80.833 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Rowan

When
April 17, 8:00 AM EST to 5:00 PM EST
Where
Rowan forecast zone
Measured
35 kt (40 mph)
Reported by
NEWSPAPER
Coordinates
35.640, -80.525 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
High Wind, Mecklenburg2001-04-1776MaleVehicle/Towed TrailerDirect

What these are

High Wind
Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in North Carolina in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, April 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5241102, 5241103, 5241104, 5241105, 5241106.