South Carolina, 2001

Drought in South Carolina, February 1 to 28, 2001

February 1 to 28, 2001 · NWS GSP · 15 events in 15 counties and zones

The long term drought's impact became more severe, even during the winter, as water levels in lakes dropped and stream flow on rivers reached record low levels. More and more communites began water restrictions, and started preparing for a busy fire weather season.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 8 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
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
15

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.

The long term drought's impact became more severe, even during the winter, as water levels in lakes dropped and stream flow on rivers reached record low levels. More and more communites began water restrictions, and started preparing for a busy fire weather season.

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 Jan 31, 9:21 PM EST, 2 hours 39 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 31, 9:21 PM EST, 2 hours 39 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
921 PM EST WED JAN 31 2001

IR SAT LOOPS INDICATE QUITE A BIT OF CI ASSOCIATED WITH STG SOUTHERN
STREAM...AND LOOKS TO BE THICK/EXTENSIVE ENOUGH TO CHG FCST TO PARTLY
CLOUDY IN CLT/GSP GROUP. IN ADDITION...SW WINDS HOLDING TEMPS UP
& WITH CLDS & A SWITCH TO THE NW VRY LATE TONIGHT...WILL NUDGE MINS
UPWARD IN THIS GROUP. LOOKING NW...LEADING EDGE OF STRATCU FIELD
NEARING TENN VLY...SLOWER THAN 18Z MESOETA DEPICTION OF LLVL RH
FIELD WHICH HAD FCST >90% RH AT 850 MB ALONG THE NC/TN BORDER
COUNTIES AT THIS TIME.

PRECIPITATION ASSOCIATED WITH POSITIVE TILTED UPPER TROUGH STILL
NORTH OF OHIO RIVER & MY NW NC MTNS WERE PROGGED TO JUST GET BRUSHED
BY WEAK PVA OVERNIGHT ANYWAY. STILL SOME POTENTIAL FOR WEAK MOIST
UPSLOPE FLOW TO DEVELOP OVERNIGHT TO GENERATE VRY LGT PCPN. EVEN
WITH THE OVERFCST OF RH FIELD BY MESOETA...FCST SNDGS OVER NW NC
MTNS HAD DEPTH OF MOIST LYR ONLY UP TO 850 MB WITH THE TEMP AT
ITS TOP ONLY DOWN TO -6C...WARMER THAN PREFERRED RANGE FOR ICE
CRYSTAL GROWTH. SO...WILL DROP POPS ACRS NW NC MTNS BACK TO SPRINKLES
& FLURRIES (PROBABLY JUST DRIZZLE OR SNOW GRAINS). THIS FITS BETTER
WITH ADJACENT RNK/MRX ZONES ANYWAY.

FCSTID = 55
GSP   41  54  36  48 /   0  10  20  20
AND   40  54  36  48 /   0  10  20  20
CLT   39  54  34  48 /   0  10  20  20
HKY   37  50  29  46 /   0  10  20  20
AVL   35  47  27  41 /  10   0  30  30

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

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

15 drought. Local standard time, as filed.

Drought, Abbeville

When
February 1, 12:00 AM EST to February 28, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Abbeville forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
34.223, -82.459 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Anderson

When
February 1, 12:00 AM EST to February 28, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Anderson forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
34.519, -82.638 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Cherokee

When
February 1, 12:00 AM EST to February 28, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Cherokee forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
35.048, -81.620 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Chester

When
February 1, 12:00 AM EST to February 28, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Chester forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
34.692, -81.159 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Greenwood

When
February 1, 12:00 AM EST to February 28, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Greenwood forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
34.154, -82.126 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Laurens

When
February 1, 12:00 AM EST to February 28, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Laurens forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
34.484, -82.006 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, Northern Greenville

When
February 1, 12:00 AM EST to February 28, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Northern Greenville forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Northern Oconee

When
February 1, 12:00 AM EST to February 28, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Northern Oconee forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Northern Pickens

When
February 1, 12:00 AM EST to February 28, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Northern Pickens forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Southern Greenville

When
February 1, 12:00 AM EST to February 28, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Southern Greenville forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Southern Oconee

When
February 1, 12:00 AM EST to February 28, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Southern Oconee forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Southern Pickens

When
February 1, 12:00 AM EST to February 28, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Southern Pickens forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Spartanburg

When
February 1, 12:00 AM EST to February 28, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Spartanburg forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Union

When
February 1, 12:00 AM EST to February 28, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Union forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
34.689, -81.619 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Drought, York

When
February 1, 12:00 AM EST to February 28, 11:59 PM EST
Where
York forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.
Coordinates
34.975, -81.184 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Drought
A drought reaching severe (D2) or worse on the US Drought Monitor, or with notable impacts.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in South Carolina in 2001Every state in 2001This day in weather historyWarnings in South Carolina, February 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5232362, 5232363, 5232364, 5232365, 5232366, 5232367, 5232368, 5232369, 5232370, 5232371, 5232372, 5232373, 5232374, 5232375, 5232376.