North Carolina, 2001

Damaging Wind in North Carolina, May 21, 2001

May 21, 2001 · NWS GSP · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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 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 May 21, 9:20 AM EST, 4 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 21, 9:20 AM EST, 4 hours 10 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1020 AM EDT MON MAY 21 2001

RUC SHOWS UPPER VORT LOBE LEAVING AREA AROUND NOON...AND SHOULD SEE
NC FOOTHILL ACTIVITY FOLLOW IT. ANOTHER...STRONGER VORT LOBE
APPROACHES AREA FROM W THIS AFTERNOON...CROSSING NC MOUNTAINS THIS
EVENING. BIG BREAK IN CLOUDS OVER NC MOUNTAINS...WHERE HEATING
SHOULD CAUSE CLOUDS TO FILL IN. WILL TRIM POPS TO 50 IN SC/GA...AS
WELL AS S TIER NC. WILL LEAVE LIKELY NC MOUNTAINS...AND I-40
CORRIDOR TO ACCOUNT FOR CURRENT ACTIVITY MOVING INTO THAT AREA.
CAPE TO ALMOST 2000 TODAY WHEN MODIFYING FFC SOUNDING...AND SOME
SHEAR EXISTS...SO SEVERE STILL A CONCERN. TEMPERATURES IN GOOD SHAPE
USING 1000-850 THICKNESS SCHEME AND MAKING MAXIMUM ADJUSTMENT FOR
LOW CLOUDS. VISIBILITY IMPROVING...AND WILL ALLOW FOG WORDING TO
EXPIRE.

FCSTID = 7
GSP   80  68  78  53 /  50  70  90  10
AND   81  69  78  54 /  50  70  9A0  10
CLT   79  67  76  55 /  50  70  90  30
HKY   78  67  77  50 /  60  70  90  10
AVL   76  64  71  47 /  60  80  90  20

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

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 21, 10:59 AM EST, 2 hours 31 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
1159 AM EDT MON MAY 21 2001

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

930 AM     3 W COLUMBUS              NC   WIND DAMAGE
05/21/01   POLK                           TREE DOWN. SHERIFF
                                          REPORT.

1030 AM    5 SW COLUMBUS             NC   WIND DAMAGE
05/21K/01   POLK                           SHERIFF REPORT: TREE AND
                                          POWER LINE DOWN.

JAT

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Rutherford

When
May 21, 1:30 PM EST
Where
Rutherford County, Ellenboro
Measured
50 kt (58 mph)
Reported by
TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates
35.333, -81.783

Trees and power lines down in Ellenboro.

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, May 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: 5244862.