Strong wind shear and moderate instability developed over the region ahead of a cold front. Several severe storms affected the western Carolinas during the afternoon and evening hours.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
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.
The episode as NWS GSP wrote it up.
Strong wind shear and moderate instability developed over the region ahead of a cold front. Several severe storms affected the western Carolinas during the afternoon and evening hours. Large hail and straight line winds were the most commonly reported severe weather, though one supercell thunderstorm produced two tornadoes over the western piedmont of North Carolina.
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 28, 1:26 PM EST, 1 hour 59 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 226 PM EDT SUN MAR 28 2010 .SYNOPSIS... A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST FROM THE TENNESSEE VALLEY TODAY...AS LOW PRESSURE MOVES ACROSS THE OHIO VALLEY. THE COLD FRONT ALONG WITH THE ASSOCIATED LOW WILL REACH THE CAROLINA COAST EARLY MONDAY AND THEN MOVE NORTH. DRY HIGH PRESSURE WILL THEN...BUILD INTO THE REGION AND REMAIN OVER THE AREA THOUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH MONDAY/... SHOWERS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AND MOVE NE ACROSS THE REGION AS A STRONG SHORTWAVE APPROACHES FROM THE W. MODELS CONT TO SHOW CAPE OF 400-600 J/KG MOVG IN FROM THE S THIS AFTN WITH PVA...Q FORCING... WIND SHEAR AND UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE ALL COMING TOGETHER OVER THE AREA. SATELLITE LOOPS ARE SHOWING SOME BREAKS IN THE CLOUDS MOVG IN FROM THE SW SO IF AREA DESTABILIZES ENOUGH EXPECT AT LEAST A FEW SEVERE STORMS TO DEVELOP. SPC HAS GA AND THE CAROLINAS IN AN AREA OF SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE STORMS...MAINLY THIS AFTN-EVE. ANY STRONG CONVECTION THAT DOES DEVELOP SHOULD TAPER OFF FROM THE W LATE THIS EVE WITH COOLING BUT SHWRS WILL LINGER OVERNIGHT...ESPECIALLY OVER THE MTNS AND E CWA. MIN TEMPS WILL BE MILD TONIGHT DUE TO THE CLOUD COVER. UPPER LOW MOVES OVER AREA DURING THE DAY MON AND ENOUGH FORCING AND LL MOISTURE IS EXPECTED FOR CHC SHWRS THRU THE DAY...ESP OVER THE MTNS AND E ZONES. HI TEMPS WILL BE BELOW AVG. && .SHORT TERM /MONDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... AS OF 2 PM EDT SUNDAY...AN UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER NC MONDAY EVENING WILL OFF THE MID ATLANTIC COAST ON TUESDAY. AN UPPER RIDGE WILL CROSS THE MS RIVER ON TUESDAY NIGHT...AND REACH THE TN AND OH RIVER VALLEYS ON WEDNESDAY. WEAK MOIST NORTHWEST FLOW WILL PERSIST MONDAY NIGHT AND SUPPORT SCATTERED SHOWERS IN UPSLOPE FLOW ALONG THE TN BORDER. FREEZING LEVELS DROP BELOW THE HIGHER PEAKS OF THE NC MOUNTAINS BY DAWN TUESDAY...BUT WITH THE TOP OF THE MOIST LAYER NOT VERY COLD...ICE NUCLEATION IS NOT A SURE THING. DRYING OCCURS LATE TUESDAY MORNING. ON TUESDAY THE PRESSURE GRADIENT GRADUALLY RELAXES. SURFACE RIDGING BUILDS IN FORM THE SOUTHWEST ON TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. MINIMUM TEMPERATURES WILL TREND DOWNWARD FROM NEAR NORMAL...AND MAXIMUM TEMPERATURES UPWARD FROM NEAR NORMAL...AS DRIER AIR ALLOWS FOR A GREATER DIURNAL RANGE. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY/... AS PM 2 PM EDT SUNDAY...THE SLOWER SOLUTION OF THE ECMWF WAS PREFERRED BY HPC OVER THE FASTER GFS. A SLOWLY PROGRESSIVE UPPER RIDGE WILL AMPLIFY OVER THE EASTERN USA FROM THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY...SUPPORTING WARM AND DRY CONDITIONS. TEMPERATURES WILL RISE TO 10 DEGREES OR MORE ABOVE NORMAL BY THE WEEKEND. && .AVIATION /19Z SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... AT KCLT AND ELSEWHERE...THERE COULD BE BREAKS WHERE CIGS GO VFR BUT EXPECT PREDOMINANT MVFR/IFR CIGS WITH OCNL IFR VSBY...ESP IN HEAVY SHWRS. CB CLOUDS INCLUDED IN TAFS TO ACCOUNT FOR SCT TSTMS AND SOME STORMS COULD BE SVR...MAINLY LATE AFTN-EARLY EVE. SE TO S WINDS WILL BE GUSTY AT TIMES...ESP NEAR CONVECTION. GUIDANCE STILL AT ODDS ON WHETHER TO LIFT CIGS OVERNIGHT WITH GFS MOST PESSIMISTIC. THERE IS A LOT OF CONFLICTING GUIDANCE WITH NAM MOST QUESTIONABLE...SO LEANING TOWARD GFS/SREF BLEND. EXPECT IMPORVEMENT TO AT LEAST MVFR MON MRNG. OUTLOOK...EXPECT CONDITIONS TO IMPROVE TO VFR BY LATE MON AND CONTINUE VFR TUE-FRI AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS OVER THE REGION. && .GSP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...PAT NEAR TERM...RB SHORT TERM...JAT LONG TERM...JAT AVIATION...RB
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 643 AM EDT SUN MAR 28 2010 GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033-035>037-048>053-056>059-062>065- 068>072-082-501>510-SCZ001>014-019-291045- RABUN-HABERSHAM-STEPHENS-FRANKLIN-HART-ELBERT-AVERY-ALEXANDER- IREDELL-DAVIE-MADISON-YANCEY-MITCHELL-SWAIN-HAYWOOD-BUNCOMBE-CATAWBA- ROWAN-GRAHAM-NORTHERN JACKSON-MACON-SOUTHERN JACKSON-TRANSYLVANIA- HENDERSON-CLEVELAND-LINCOLN-GASTON-MECKLENBURG-CABARRUS-UNION NC- CALDWELL MOUNTAINS-GREATER CALDWELL-BURKE MOUNTAINS-GREATER BURKE- MCDOWELL MOUNTAINS-EASTERN MCDOWELL-RUTHERFORD MOUNTAINS- GREATER RUTHERFORD-POLK MOUNTAINS-EASTERN POLK-OCONEE MOUNTAINS- PICKENS MOUNTAINS-GREENVILLE MOUNTAINS-GREATER OCONEE- GREATER PICKENS-GREATER GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG-CHEROKEE-YORK- ANDERSON-ABBEVILLE-LAURENS-UNION SC-CHESTER-GREENWOOD- 643 AM EDT SUN MAR 28 2010 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST GEORGIA...PIEDMONT NORTH CAROLINA...WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. A COLD FRONT AND AN ASSOCIATED AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE TENNESSEE VALLEY THIS MORNING. BY THE TIME THE FRONT MOVES INTO THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS AND SURROUNDING AREAS THIS AFTERNOON...THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BE WEAKLY UNSTABLE ACROSS THE REGION. THIS WILL COMBINE WITH VERY STRONG WINDS ALOFT TO ALLOW THE LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO INTENSIFY AS IT MOVES EAST ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. IT APPEARS LIKELY THAT ISOLATED STORMS EMBEDDED WITHIN THE LINE COULD PRODUCE SEVERE WEATHER... WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS BEING THE MAIN THREAT. HOWEVER...THERE WILL ALSO BE A THREAT OF ISOLATED TORNADOES... ESPECIALLY WITH ANY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP OUT AHEAD OF THE MAIN LINE OF SHOWERS AND STORMS. ALTHOUGH SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE POSSIBLE ANYWHERE ACROSS THE AREA...THE MOST LIKELY LOCATIONS TO SEE LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND TORNADOES THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING WILL BE ACROSS UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTERS ARE REQUESTED TO FORWARD ANY REPORTS OF LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...TORNADOES OR FLASH FLOODING TO OUR OFFICE. LANE
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 413 PM EDT SUN MAR 28 2010 NCZ036-037-057-069-071-282115- DAVIE-IREDELL-LINCOLN-MECKLENBURG-ROWAN- 413 PM EDT SUN MAR 28 2010 ...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT DAVIE...EASTERN LINCOLN... NORTHERN MECKLENBURG...NORTHWESTERN ROWAN AND SOUTHEASTERN IREDELL COUNTIES THROUGH 515 PM EDT... AT 410 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 3 MILES EAST OF LOWESVILLE...OR 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF UNC CHARLOTTE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. * OTHER LOCATIONS AFFECTED INCLUDE BUT ARE NOT LIMITED TO LAKE NORMAN...WOODLEAF...SPENCER...SALISBURY...MOUNT ULLA...LANDIS... ENOCHVILLE...CLEVELAND...CHINA GROVE...TROUTMAN...MOORESVILLE... SHEFFIELD...MOCKSVILLE...FORK CHURCH...FARMINGTON...COOLEEMEE... ADVANCE...LOWESVILLE...HUNTERSVILLE...DAVIDSON AND CORNELIUS. SMALL HAIL...HEAVY RAINFALL...AND WIND GUSTS OF 40 TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. 07
The Greer radar (KGSP), 150 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:22 UTC.
6 hail, 5 thunderstorm wind, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Several reports of hail ranging in size from dimes to golf balls were received from the Mooresville area.
A very short tornado path was surveyed near Belmont. The tornado touched down in the Parkdale Dr/Landing Rd area, where a mill was damaged. Part of the metal sheet roofing was peeled back and thrown in multiple directions, allowing some interior walls to collapse. A tractor trailer was also overturned on the south side of the mill. Several homes were damaged at a mobile home park adjacent to the mill, where a number of trees were also blown down. The tornado traveled roughly 200 yards before lifting.
Area of straight line wind damage was surveyed, which extended from Sam Wilson Rd north to Mount Holly Rd in western Mecklenburg County. Numerous trees were blown down, with one tree falling on and causing significant damage to a home.
Multiple large limbs were blown down across the city.
This tornado touched down along highway 29 in Spencer, just east of the town center, where the facade and roof of a shopping center were damaged. The tornado traveled northeast along Salisbury Ave, causing mainly minor roof damage to numerous homes, and blowing the awning off a business. The brick chimney was blown off a home and two trees fell on another home in this area. The tornado continued northeast to the Yadkin Ave/Cain St area, where numerous trees were blown down, one on a home, another on an apartment building, and one on an automobile. Numerous homes received minor roof damage as the tornado continued northeast, eventually crossing N Salisbury Ave again. The most significant damage occurred in the Hackett St area, where a shed and boat awning were destroyed. A large tree also fell on a house in this area, causing significant damage. The tornado then caused minor damage at a factory before took on more of a east/northeast heading, roughly paralleling Hackett St, where additional tree damage occurred. The tornado continued east/northeast, crossing I-85 just north of Hackett St before crossing the Yadkin River into Davidson County.
A large tree and several large limbs were blown down between Mooresboro and Boiling Springs.
Two trees were snapped off by strong winds on Battleground Rd a little north of the South Carolina state line.
Two large trees were blown down on Steeplechase Dr about 4 miles southeast of Gastonia.
Hail, up to the size of quarters, was reported to be covering the ground.
Quarter size hail was reported at the intersection of I-77 and I-485.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2010Every state in 2010This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for North Carolina, 2010Warnings in North Carolina, March 2010
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: 219532, 219533, 219631, 219632, 220858, 219647, 219741, 220840, 219747, 260327, 260328, 219866, 219867.