High Wind in North Carolina, March 10, 2002

Name: High Wind in North Carolina, March 10, 2002
Start: 2002-03-10T06:00
End: 2002-03-10T06:00
Location: North Carolina

March 10, 2002 · NWS GSP · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

Strong winds following a cold front reached damaging levels in a few locations. Most damage was limited to downed trees and power lines, which blocked roads for a while in some areas.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 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

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The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $3,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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.

Strong winds following a cold front reached damaging levels in a few locations. Most damage was limited to downed trees and power lines, which blocked roads for a while in some areas.

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 Mar 10, 3:40 AM EST, 2 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 10, 3:40 AM EST, 2 hours 20 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
340 AM EST SUN MAR 10 2002

COLD FRONT IS THROUGH THE REGION...WITH SKIES CLEAR IN ALL BUT A
SMALL PART OF THE TN BORDER COUNTIES. HOWEVER...A SECONDARY COLD
FRONT CROSSES THE REGION BETWEEN 15 AND 18 UTC. THIS SHOWS UP
PARTICULARLY WELL ON THE ETA AT H8. IN FACT...SOME 50 KT WNDS AT
THIS LEVEL CAN BE FOUND IN THE MTNS AND THE NC FOOTHILLS AND NRN
PIEDMONT. GENERALLY WHEN THIS HAPPENS...AND AS THE MIXED LAYER
BECOMES A LITTLE DEEPER THIS MORNING...SOME FAIRLY STRONG GUSTS MIX
DOWN. THUS...WHILE SUSTAINED WNDS WL NOT MEET ADVISORY
CRITERIA...EXPECT SEVERAL 45 MPH GUSTS IN THE AFOREMENTIONED AREAS
DURING THE LATE MORNING.

ALSO...AS DWPTS CRASH INTO THE TEENS AND TEMPS STALL IN THE M50S TO
NEAR 60 BY LATE MORNING...RH/S FALL INTO THE LOW 20S AND UPPER
TEENS. CALLS TO RAWS SITES SHOW THAT 10 HR FUEL STICK MOISTURE
ACROSS MOST OF THE CWA IS IN THE MID 20S. THUS...EVEN W/TWO
METEOROLOGICAL CRITERIA WELL MET...IT IS A LITTLE TOO MOIST FOR A
RED FLAG WARNING. HOWEVER...WL HIGHLIGHT CONCERNS IN FWF AND TRY TO
COORDINATE WITH STATE AND FEDERAL AGENCIES LATER THIS MORNING.

NEXT CONCERN IS SHORT WAVE THAT CROSS THE REGION TUE. TIMING IS A
LITTLE FASTER TDA...BUT THE BASIC IDEA OF PCPN BEGINNING AROUND 6
UTC AND LASTING UNTIL THE EARLY AFTN TUE IS STILL ON TRACK. ONE NEW
WRINKLE I WL INTRODUCE IS CHANCE OF SN/FZRA IN THE NRN MTNS EARLY
TUE AS SFC WET BULBS HOWEVER AROUND FREEZING AT THE ONSET IN THE NRN
MTNS. 1000-850 THICKNESSES ARE A LITTLE HIGH FOR SNOW (NOT SO JUST N
OF THE CWA) BUT WL ALSO MENTION SOME SNOW MIX AS WELL.

THE REST OF NEXT WEEK LOOKS GOOD. UPPED TEMPS A FEW DEG WED-FRI AS
H8 TEMPS ARE REALLY LOOKING WARM ON THE GSM...BUT NO CHANGES OTRW.

THANKS RNK FOR ONLINE COORDINATION THIS MORNING.

FCSTID = 14
GSP   61  26  59  39 /   0   0   0  30
AND   62  25  60  40 /   0   0   0  30
CLT   61  27  59  39 /   0   0   0  30
HKY   56  24  57  37 /   0   0   0  40
AVL   53  23  56  35 /   0   0   0  40

.GSP...
GA...WIND ADVISORY FOR TODAY FOR ZONES GAZ010...GAZ017.
NC...WIND ADVISORY FOR TODAY FOR ZONES
NCZ033>037...NCZ048>059...NCZ062>067.
SC...WIND ADVISORY FOR TODAY FOR ZONES SCZ001>003.

MCAVOY

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.

High Wind, Avery

When: March 10, 6:00 AM EST
Where: Avery forecast zone
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.077, -81.922 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Mitchell

When: March 10, 6:00 AM EST
Where: Mitchell forecast zone
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Property damage: $1,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 36.013, -82.163 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

High Wind, Henderson

When: March 10, 6:00 AM EST
Where: Henderson forecast zone
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph)
Property damage: $1,000
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

Every storm in North Carolina in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in North Carolina, March 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: 5285710, 5285770, 5285771.