South Carolina, 2001

Drought in South Carolina, May 1 to 31, 2001

May 1 to 31, 2001 · NWS GSP · 15 events in 15 counties and zones

Unprecedented drought conditions continued in upstate South Carolina. Hundreds of apple trees in western South Carolina were being cleared because of the lack of production caused by 3 years of drought.

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.

Unprecedented drought conditions continued in upstate South Carolina. Hundreds of apple trees in western South Carolina were being cleared because of the lack of production caused by 3 years of drought. The Greenville Water System asked for voluntary water restrictions for the first time in its history. Some streams and rivers reached all-time record low flow levels.

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 30, 8:42 PM EST, 3 hours 18 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 30, 8:42 PM EST, 3 hours 18 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
942 PM EDT MON APR 30 2001

KGSP/KMRX 88D LOOPS INDICATE LINGERING SHOWERS CONTINUING TO
DISSIPATE...SO WILL UPDATE ZFP TO REMOVE EVENING WORDING FOR
POPS ACRS MTNS. A FAIR AMT OF DEBRIS CLOUDINESS REMAINS ACROSS
WESTERN 1/2 OF THE CWFA & 18Z MESO ETA ONLY SLOWLY DECREASES
MID-LVL RH ACRS THIS AREA THRU 12Z. KGSP VWP INDICATES SW WINDS
THRU LOWEST 4 GATES...PROGGED TO BECOME MORE NW BY 12Z AS 850 MB
ANTICYCLONE RETROGRADES FROM SC TO N GA...SO FLOW LOOKS TO BE
LESS FAVORABLE THAN PAST 2 NIGHTS FOR STRATCU DEVELOPMENT. KGSP
STP INDICATES THERE WAS A FAIR COVERAGE OF CONVECTION THIS
AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING ACRS THE C/S NC MTNS & CURRENT VSBYS
AT KAVL/K6A3 ARE 4/5SM BR...SO WILL ADD PF TO MATRIX (THANKS
TO BUILD 5.0 IFPS).

FCSTID = 55
GSP   55  79  54  80 /   0  20  10  10
AND   54  79  54  80 /   0  20  10  10
CLT   53  79  54  80 /   0  20  10  10
HKY   53  78  54  78 /   0  10  10  10
AVL   50  74  50  75 /  10  30  20  10

.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
May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 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
May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 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
May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 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
May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 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
May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 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
May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 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
May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Northern Greenville forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Northern Oconee

When
May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Northern Oconee forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Northern Pickens

When
May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Northern Pickens forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Southern Greenville

When
May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Southern Greenville forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Southern Oconee

When
May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Southern Oconee forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Southern Pickens

When
May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Southern Pickens forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Spartanburg

When
May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 11:59 PM EST
Where
Spartanburg forecast zone
Reported by
OFFICIAL NWS OBS.

Drought, Union

When
May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 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
May 1, 12:00 AM EST to May 31, 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, 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: 5244873, 5244874, 5244875, 5244966, 5244967, 5244968, 5244969, 5244970, 5244971, 5244972, 5244973, 5244974, 5244975, 5244976, 5244977.