High Wind, Buncombe
- When
- December 13, 8:29 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
- Where
- Buncombe forecast zone
- Measured
- 65 kt (75 mph)
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 35.611, -82.530 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind in North Carolina, December 13, 2002
Damaging winds were caused by a gravity wave as it propagated out of upstate South Carolina, and across the southern mountains and foothills of North Carolina. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down, and roads and highways were blocked in Asheville and Hendersonville.
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
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- 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.
Damaging winds were caused by a gravity wave as it propagated out of upstate South Carolina, and across the southern mountains and foothills of North Carolina. Numerous trees and power lines were blown down, and roads and highways were blocked in Asheville and Hendersonville. Power outages lasted for much of the day across portions of Buncombe County.
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 Dec 13, 8:26 AM EST, 3 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 13, 8:26 AM EST, 3 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 826 AM EST FRI DEC 13 2002 HAVE GOTTEN NUMEROUS REPORTS OF WIND DAMAGE ALONG THE BACK EDGE OF THE PRECIP SHIELD ACROSS NORTHEAST GEORGIA AND UPSTATE SC (KAHN GUSTED TO 47KTS AT 1245 UTC). TO BE HONEST...NOT SURE WHAT IS GOING ON...SUSPECT A GRAVITY WAVE...BUT HAVE NEVERTHELESS ISSUED A SHORT FUSE HIGH WIND WARNING FOR MUCH OF THE UPSTATE AND NC MNTNS AND FOOTHILLS. .GSP... GA...HIGH WIND WARNING THROUGH NOON FOR ZONE GAZ010. NC...HIGH WIND WARNING THROUGH NOON FOR ZONES NCZ033>034...NCZ048>050...NCZ052>055...NCZ059...NCZ062>067. SC...HIGH WIND WARNING THROUGH NOON FOR ZONES SCZ001>007...SCZ010. LANE
Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 13, 5:00 AM EST, 3 hours 29 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-131200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 500 AM EST FRI DEC 13 2002 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA... UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY WIDESPREAD RAIN WILL COVER THE REGION THROUGH NOON...BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON A CHANCE RAIN WILL EXIST OVER NORTHEAST GEORGIA THROUGH THE UPSTATE OF SOUTH CAROLINA WITH RAIN CONTINUING ELSEWHERE. THIS EVENING...MOUNTAIN RAIN SHOWERS WILL BEGIN MIXING WITH SNOW WITH A TRANSITION TO ALL SNOW EXPECTED AFTER MIDNIGHT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SATURDAY...WINDY CONDITIONS WILL DEVELOP IN THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS AS NORTHWEST WINDS STRENGTHEN TO 20 TO 30 MPH. SNOW SHOWERS OVER THE TENNESSEE BORDER COUNTIES WILL CONTINUE THROUGHOUT THE DAY TIME RESULTING IN MAINLY LIGHT ACCUMULATIONS...MEASURABLE AMOUNTS LESS THAN AN INCH ARE EXPECTED ON MOUNTAIN TOPS OVER 3000 FT. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. NED
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Dec 13, 7:50 AM EST, 39 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ048-051>053-058-059-062>065-SCZ001>006- 010>012-019-131500- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 750 AM EST FRI DEC 13 2002 ...GUSTY WINDS REPORTED IN NORTH GEORGIA... HABERSHAM COUNTY 911 REPORTED THAT TREES HAVE BEEN DOWNED AT SEVERAL LOCATIONS AROUND THE COUNTY THIS MORNING...AS MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS MOVED THROUGH. NO THUNDER OR LIGHTNING HAD BEEN REPORTED ASSOCIATED WITH THESE DOWNED TREES. AS HAS BEEN OBSERVED SEVERAL TIMES DURING RECENT MONTHS...TREES HAVE BEEN DOWNED AT LOWER THRESHOLDS THAN NORMALLY REQUIRED FOR DAMAGE...BECAUSE OF STRESS FROM THE DROUGHT WHICH AFFECTED THE AREA FOR SEVERAL YEARS. ALSO...THE RECENT ICE STORM LIKELY WEAKENED ADDITIONAL TREES IN THE AREA. AS GUSTY WINDS MOVE ACROSS EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA...AND THE WESTERN CAROLINAS THIS MORNING...MORE TREES WILL LIKELY FALL HERE AND THERE. JONES
Special weather statement, Dec 13, 8:07 AM EST, 22 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ048-051>053-058-059-062>065-SCZ001>006- 010>012-019-131500- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 807 AM EST FRI DEC 13 2002 ...DAMAGING WINDS REPORTED IN NORTH GEORGIA... STRONG GUSTY WINDS...IN SOME CASES GUSTING TO MORE THAN 50 MPH...WILL LIKELY SPREAD FROM NORTH GEORGIA INTO THE WESTERN CAROLINAS THIS MORNING. SINCE TREES WERE REPORTED DOWN EARLIER IN HABERSHAM COUNTY...GUSTS TO ABOUT 55 MPH WERE REPORTED AT THE AIRPORT IN ATHENS GEORGIA. OTHER LOCATIONS IN NORTH GEORGIA ALSO REPORTED DAMAGE. THESE WINDS ARE LIKELY ASSOCIATED WITH A SMALL LOW PRESSURE CENTER MOVING THROUGH...AND THE WIND WILL LIKELY INCREASE ACROSS LAKE HARTWELL...AND THE SOUTHERN MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CAROLINA...AND THE WESTERN PART OF UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA. TREES AND POWER LINES WILL LIKELY BE BLOWN DOWN AROUND HIGHLANDS...CASHIERS...WALHALLA...ANDERSON...CLEMSON...PICKENS...AND PERHAPS AS FAR EAST AS BREVARD. JONES
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
5 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
High Wind, Burke
- When
- December 13, 8:29 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
- Where
- Burke forecast zone
- Measured
- 65 kt (75 mph)
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
High Wind, Macon
- When
- December 13, 8:29 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
- Where
- Macon forecast zone
- Measured
- 65 kt (75 mph)
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 35.150, -83.422 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, Southern Jackson
- When
- December 13, 8:29 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
- Where
- Southern Jackson forecast zone
- Measured
- 65 kt (75 mph)
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 35.287, -83.141 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind, Henderson
- When
- December 13, 8:29 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
- Where
- Henderson forecast zone
- Measured
- 65 kt (75 mph)
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 35.336, -82.480 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
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
- Tornadoes and Heavy Rain in California, December 13 to 17, 2002
- High Wind in Georgia, December 13, 2002
- Tornado in Florida, December 13, 2002
- High Wind in Georgia, December 13, 2002
- Flash Flooding and Flooding in California, December 13 to 16, 2002
- High Wind in Oregon, December 13 to 16, 2002
- High Wind in South Carolina, December 13, 2002
- Flooding in Florida, December 13, 2002
- Heavy Snow in Pennsylvania, December 13 to 14, 2002
- High Wind in Oregon, December 13 to 14, 2002
- Winter Storm in Virginia, December 13, 2002
- Heavy Rain in California, December 13 to 14, 2002
More
Every storm in North Carolina in 2002Every state in 2002This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, December 2002
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: 5326509, 5326510, 5326511, 5326512, 5326513.