North Carolina, 2001

Damaging Wind in North Carolina, July 9, 2001

July 9, 2001 · NWS GSP · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A cold front dropped into eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina overnight, producing another round of thunderstorm wind events for some of the higher elevation locations near the Tennessee line.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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 cold front dropped into eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina overnight, producing another round of thunderstorm wind events for some of the higher elevation locations near the Tennessee line.

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 Jul 8, 8:50 PM EST, 4 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 8, 8:50 PM EST, 4 hours 50 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
950 PM EDT SUN JUL 8 2001

PLAN ON ISSUING ZFP UPDATE NEAR 10 PM COINCIDENT WITH WATCH
EXPIRATION. KGSP RADAR LOOPS SHOW TSTMS GRADUALLY WEAKENING ALONG
SOUTHERN & WESTERN EDGES OF CWFA & A SHRINKING AREA OF STRATIFORM
RAIN IN THEIR WAKE. NEXT CONVECTIVE COMPLEX IS JUST SOUTH OF OHIO
RIVER & CONTINUING TO PROGRESS RAPIDLY SWD. EVEN THOUGH CWFA HAS
BEEN WORKED OVER PRETTY WELL THIS EVENING...WITH LAPS DATA SHOWING
JUST A FEW HUNDRED CAPE OVER WESTERN & SOUTHERN SECTIONS...WILL KEEP
LIKELY POPS IN MTNS & TAPER TO CHC PIEDMONT. KGSP STP SHOWS SOME
1.5 TO 2 INCH PIXELS...BUT DEEP CONVECTION MOVED RATHER RAPIDLY ACRS
THE AREA THIS EVENING...TO KEEP MANY AREAS WITH JUST LIGHT TO
MODERATE RAINFALL TOTALS...SO DON'T PLAN ON ANY FFA.

FCSTID = 55
GSP   71  87  72  92 /  50  40  30  30
AND   71  87  72  92 /  50  40  30  30
CLT   71  87  72  9 2 /  40  40  30  30
HKY   69  86  69  90 /  60  40  30  30
AVL   65  82  65  87 /  70  40  30  30

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

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 91 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 06:42 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Graham

When
July 9, 1:40 AM EST
Where
Graham County, Fontana Vlg
Measured
50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
35.433, -83.833

Large branches blown onto area roads overnight.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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, July 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: 5261277.