Moderate wind shear and moderate instability developed over the region ahead of a cold front. Scattered multicell storms developed over western South Carolina.
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.
Moderate wind shear and moderate instability developed over the region ahead of a cold front. Scattered multicell storms developed over western South Carolina. The storms produced damaging straight line winds and large hail.
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 Aug 14, 9:29 AM EST, 3 hours 14 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 1029 AM EDT SUN AUG 14 2011 .SYNOPSIS... A COLD FRONT WILL SLOWLY CROSS THE REGION TODAY AND TONIGHT. HIGH PRESSURE WILL GRADUALLY BUILD ACROSS THE AREA EARLY IN THE WEEK... THEN GRADUALLY WEAKEN. ANOTHER COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE AREA BY THE END OF THE WEEK. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... EARLIER SHOWERS HAVE MOVED EAST OF THE AREA...BUT MORE CONVECTION IS ON THE WAY. MODERATE INSTABILITY SHOULD DEVELOP TODAY AS MOIST SLY FLOW CONTINUES. HEATING MAY BE SLOWED BY MORNING CLOUDS...BUT THERE SHOULD BE ENUF BREAKS DEVELOPING TO HELP REACH CURRENT FCST. DEEP LAYER FLOW IS INCREASING CREATING MORE SHEAR...AND MID LEVEL DRYING COULD INCREASE DCAPE VALUES THIS AFTERNOON. THEREFORE...SEVERE STORMS ARE EXPECTED ONCE AGAIN AND COULD BE MORE WIDESPREAD. WITH THE DRIER MID LEVEL AIR...PW WILL BE A LITTLE LOWER. HOWEVER... ISOLATED FLOODING CANNOT BE RULED OUT GIVEN THE RELATIVELY WET PAST FEW DAYS. PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...SE UPSLOPE FLOW AND WEAK ISENTROPIC LIFT...COMBINED WITH AN UPPER VORT MAX...WILL BRING SHWRS ACROSS THE AREA EARLY THIS MRNG. SHEAR WILL INCREASE BUT INSTABILITY STILL APPEARS MINIMAL. A DAMAGING WIND GUST REMAINS PSBL THOUGH...ALONG WITH SOME FLOODING...ESPECIALLY IF CELLS TRAIN. EXPECT CONVECTIVE COVERAGE TO INCREASE TODAY WITH THE APPROACH OF THE UPPER TROF AND ASSOC COLD FRONT FROM THE NW. LAPSE RATES WILL ALSO INCREASE WITH HEATING WHICH WILL INCREASE THE CHC OF SEVERE STORMS...MAINLY ACROSS THE E CWA THIS AFTN. SPC HAS THE AREA E OF THE MTNS IN A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE STORMS TODAY. HIGH TEMPS WILL BE SLIGHTLY BELOW AVG THIS AFTN. CONVECTION WILL TAPER OFF FROM THE W THIS EVE AFTER FROPA BUT LINGER OVER THE MTNS. WITH DRYING AND COOLING BEHIND THE SYSTEM EXPECT MRNG LOWS A COUPLE DEG BELOW AVG. && .SHORT TERM /MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... AS OF 120 AM SUNDAY...A VERY QUIET SHORT TERM IS IN STORE AS AN EAST COAST TROUGH GRADUALLY WEAKENS THROUGH THE PERIOD. IN FACT...THE EARLY PART OF THE WEEK WILL BE DOWNRIGHT PLEASANT (FOR AUGUST)...AS MAX TEMPS WILL BE VERY CLOSE TO CLIMO...IF NOT A LITTLE BELOW NORMAL...WHILE DEWPOINTS SHOULD GENERALLY BE IN THE 50S AND LOWER 60S. THIS WILL RESULT IN MIN TEMPS A CATEGORY OR SO BELOW NORMAL. THERE MAY BE AN ISOLATED SHOWER OR TWO ACROSS THE MTNS AND NORTHERN TIER MON AFTERNOON...AS TEMPS ALOFT WILL BE QUITE COOL WITHIN THE TROUGH AXIS...AND THERE WILL BE ENOUGH LINGERING LOW LEVEL MOISTURE TO YIELD SOME POSITIVE CAPE. HOWEVER...THE REMAINDER OF THE SHORT TERM SHOULD BE FREE OF CONVECTION. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY/... AS OF 145 AM SUNDAY...THE GLOBAL MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT THAT HEIGHTS WILL CONTINUE TO RISE OVER THE EASTERN CONUS VERY EARLY DURING THE MEDIUM RANGE...BEFORE FALLING AGAIN LATER IN THE WEEK. THIS WILL GENERALLY ALLOW A MEAN TROUGH TO PERSIST OVER THE EAST THROUGH THE PERIOD. THE FALLING HEIGHTS LATE IN THE WEEK WILL ALLOW ANOTHER COLD FRONT TO APPROACH THE AREA BY THE END OF THE WEEK. THEREFORE...POPS WILL BEGIN TO INCREASE (TO SLIGHT/LOW CHANCE) ON A DIURNAL BASIS ON THURSDAY...WITH CHANCE POPS OVERSPREADING MUCH OF THE AREA FRI/SAT. TEMPS WILL GENERALLY REMAIN RIGHT AROUND NORMAL THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .AVIATION /15Z SUNDAY THROUGH THURSDAY/... AT KCLT AND ELSEWHERE...SHWRS/TSTMS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE IN FROM THE W AS UPPER FORCING AND LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE IMPROVE. HAVE AT LEAST TEMPO MVFR CIG/VSBY AND VCSH/SHRA THRU THE MRNG HOURS. MOT EXPECTING A LONG PERIOD OF IFR IF IT DOES OCCUR, MAINLY WITH SHWRS. EXPECT INCREASING CONVECTIVE COVERAGE WITH THE STRONGEST TSTMS MAINLY E OF THE MTNS THIS AFTN-EVE. LGT WINDS BECOME SW WITH MIXING THIS MRNG. WINDS WILL SWING NW-N LATE AFTN W...LATE EVE E WITH FROPA. EXPECT MVFR FOG SUN MRNG. OUTLOOK...AFTER EARLY MRNG FOG EXPECT DRIER WEATHER MON-WED. CHANCE OF CONVECTION WILL INCREASE AGAIN THU AS ANOTHER SYSTEM APPROACHES FROM THE W. AN EXPERIMENTAL AVIATION FORECAST CONSISTENCY TABLE SHOWING THE PERCENTAGE OF GUIDANCE MEMBERS AGREEING WITH THE SCHEDULED ISSUANCE CATEGORY IS AVAILABLE AT FOLLOWING LINK (USE LOWER CASE)... WWW.WEATHER.GOV/GSP/AVIATION/TABLES.HTM && .GSP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...JDL NEAR TERM...RB/RWH SHORT TERM...JDL LONG TERM...JDL AVIATION...RB
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 1033 AM EDT SUN AUG 14 2011 GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033-035>037-048>053-056>059-062>065- 068>072-082-501>510-SCZ001>014-019-151445- 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- 1033 AM EDT SUN AUG 14 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST GEORGIA...PIEDMONT NORTH CAROLINA...WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. AS A COLD FRONT CROSSES THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON...THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY. THE STRONGEST STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH...AND PERHAPS SOME LARGE HAIL. IN ADDITION...LOCALIZED EXCESSIVE RAINFALL AND FLASH FLOODING IS POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY IN AREAS THAT SEE MULTIPLE THUNDERSTORMS IN SUCCESSION...OR IN AREAS THAT HAVE RECEIVED HEAVY RAINFALL DURING THE PAST COUPLE OF DAYS. THE BEST CHANCE FOR HAZARDOUS WEATHER WILL EXIST OVER THE PIEDMONT. .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.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1238 PM EDT SUN AUG 14 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0722 PM TSTM WND DMG 14 SE YORK 34.85N 81.06W
08/13/2011 YORK SC TRAINED SPOTTER
ONE LARGE PERSIMMON TREE DOWN.
&&
07PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1257 PM EDT SUN AUG 14 2011
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0521 PM TSTM WND DMG 2 E WARE SHOALS 34.39N 82.21W
08/13/2011 LAURENS SC TRAINED SPOTTER
ONE LARGE TREE LIMB DOWN.
&&
07SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
134 PM EDT SUN AUG 14 2011
SCZ001-002-004-005-141815-
GREATER OCONEE-GREATER PICKENS-OCONEE MOUNTAINS-PICKENS MOUNTAINS-
134 PM EDT SUN AUG 14 2011
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT CENTRAL OCONEE AND SOUTHWESTERN
PICKENS COUNTIES THROUGH 215 PM EDT...
AT 130 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM 3 MILES NORTH OF WALHALLA...MOVING EAST AT 15
MPH.
THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR...
SALEM...
LAKE KEOWEE...
NORRIS...
VERY HEAVY RAINFALL...SMALL HAIL...AND WIND GUSTS OF 40 TO 50 MPH
ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM.
LAT...LON 3492 8313 3488 8265 3472 8269 3466 8280
3474 8317
07SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
138 PM EDT SUN AUG 14 2011
NCZ064-065-509-510-SCZ003-141830-
EASTERN POLK-GREENVILLE MOUNTAINS-HENDERSON-POLK
MOUNTAINS-TRANSYLVANIA-
138 PM EDT SUN AUG 14 2011
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT EASTERN TRANSYLVANIA...NORTHERN
GREENVILLE...SOUTHERN HENDERSON AND SOUTHWESTERN POLK COUNTIES
THROUGH 230 PM EDT...
AT 134 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM 4 MILES EAST OF LITTLE RIVER...OR 8 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF HENDERSONVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.
THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR...
HENDERSONVILLE...
FLAT ROCK...
NORTH SALUDA RESERVOIR...
TRYON...
VERY HEAVY RAINFALL...SMALL HAIL...AND WIND GUSTS OF 40 TO 50 MPH
ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM.
LAT...LON 3530 8215 3519 8218 3519 8221 3507 8222
3506 8223 3516 8267 3534 8263
07The Greer radar (KGSP), 70 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:42 UTC.
6 hail, 3 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Trees were blown down on Oconee Creek Rd and Burnt Tanyard Rd. Another tree was blown down at the intersection of highway 130 and highway 183.
Penny size hail was reported in the Glassy Mountain area.
Multiple trees were blown down west of Inman. A tree was blown down on a home on C St in town. Two trees fell on mobile homes east southeast of town, including on Saddle Ridge Dr. Numerous additional trees were blown down in this area as well.
Penny size hail was reported at Meansville Rd and Gist Bridge Rd.
A roof was blown off an outbuilding with numerous trees blown down from Buffalo to Union. One tree fell on a house on Kelly Rd and another tree on a house on Stevens Rd in Buffalo.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in South Carolina in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in South Carolina, August 2011
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: 342860, 342861, 342862, 342863, 342864, 342865, 342866, 342868, 342873.