South Carolina, 2011

Damaging Wind in South Carolina, August 9, 2011

August 9, 2011 · NWS GSP · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A small cluster of thunderstorms developed during the late evening hours over the northwest piedmont of South Carolina. The storms produced a little wind damage.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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
None recorded
Crop damage
None recorded
Events
1

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.

A small cluster of thunderstorms developed during the late evening hours over the northwest piedmont of South Carolina. The storms produced a little wind damage.

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 Aug 9, 8:42 PM EST, 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 9, 8:42 PM EST, 42 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
942 PM EDT TUE AUG 9 2011

.SYNOPSIS...
A WEAK FRONTAL BOUNDARY ALONG WITH A HOT AND HUMID AIRMASS WILL
LINGER OVER THE REGION THROUGH TONIGHT. A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE
WITH DRIER AIR WILL BUILD BACK OVER THE AREA ON WEDNESDAY.
ANOTHER FRONT WILL ENTER THE AREA ON SATURDAY...BRINGING A CHANCE
FOR RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS ALONG WITH COOLER TEMPERATURES.

&&

.NEAR TERM /THROUGH WEDNESDAY/...
CONVECTION HAS DIMINISHED WITH COOLING AND STRONGER STORMS WILL
REMAIN WELL S OF THE AREA BEFORE ENDING LATE. HELD ON TO SLIGHT CHC
POPS OVER MTNS AND S CWA TIL 2AM. LOOK FOR PCLDY TO MCLDY SKIES
BECMG MCLR OVERNIGHT. TWEAKED SKY COVER...POPS AND TEMPS USING
LATEST TRENDS/GUIDANCE.

ON WEDNESDAY...WE REMAIN AT THE BOTTOM OF THE UPPER LONG WAVE TROF
CENTERED OVER THE EASTERN PART OF THE COUNTRY. DEEP LAYER DRYING AND
WARMER AIR ALOFT WILL SERIOUSLY CURTAIL OUR CONVECTIVE PRECIP
CHANCES SO HAVE FOLLOWED THE SREF AND KEPT THE FCST AREA DRY. TEMPS
WILL BE ABOUT THE SAME AS TODAY WITH MORE SUN...BUT LOWER DEWPOINTS.

&&

.SHORT TERM /WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH FRIDAY/...
AS OF 130 PM TUESDAY...THE SHORT TERM FCST PICKS UP AT 00Z ON
THURSDAY WITH THE AXIS OF THE GREAT LAKES UPPER TROF TO OUR NORTH
WITH NUMEROUS SHORTWAVES MOVING INTO THE REGION FROM THE WEST. THE
UPPER TROF BEGINS TO LIFT NORTHWARD ON THURS AS THE UPPER RIDGE
SLOWLY BUILDS TO OUR WEST. LATE WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY...THE
FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL BE TO OUR SE BY LATE WED WITH COOLER AND DRIER NW FLOW
IN ITS WAKE. AS THE SFC HIGH BEGINS TO MOVE EASTWARD...LOW LVL FLOW
WILL QUICKLY BECOME NORTHERLY AND THEN TRANSITION TO LIGHT AND
VARIABLE BY THURS AFTERNOON. MODELS CONTINUE TO SUGGEST THAT A WEAK
MESO LOW COULD DEVELOP JUST TO OUR EAST WITH SOME SORT OF
MCS/MCV...ASSOCIATED WITH AN UPPER LVL SHORTWAVE...DEVELOPING OVER
TENN AND ADVECTING INTO OUR CWFA BY LATE AFTERNOON. RIGHT
NOW...MODELS SOUNDINGS DO HAVE SOME SFC BASED INSTABILITY AND SMALL
AMOUNTS OF HELICITY BUT IT PROBABLY WONT BE ENOUGH TO PRODUCE ANY
SVR CONVECTION. TEMPS SHOULD BE A FEW DEGREES COOLER THAN THE
PREVIOUS DAY WITH HIGHS IN THE LOWER 90S. ON FRIDAY...THE CENTER OF
THE SFC HIGH WILL SLIDE FARTHER EAST WITH MOSTLY LIGHT AND VRB WINDS
NEAR THE SFC. EXPECT PROFILES TO BE DRIER OVER THE FCST AREA...BUT
WITH BETTER INSTABILITY THE POTENTIAL FOR PULSE TYPE SVR CONVECTION
SHOULD BE GREATER. TEMPS ARE EXPECTED TO BE VERY SIMILAR TO THE
PREVIOUS DAY WITH HIGHS NEAR CLIMO...IF NOT A DEGREE OR 2 ABOVE.

&&

.LONG TERM /FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY/...
AS OF 130 PM TUESDAY...THE MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT
WITH THE MID LEVEL PATTERN LATE THIS WEEK...INDICATING A L/W RIDGE
ACROSS THE ROCKIES AND A DIGGING TROF ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES REGION.
BROAD LIFT ASSOCIATED WITH THE APPROACHING MID LEVEL TROF WILL
INCREASE ACROSS THE CWA THROUGH THE DAY ON SATURDAY. FORECAST
SOUNDINGS INDICATE THAT DECENT LAPSE RATES WILL DEVELOP BETWEEN THE
SFC AND H5 AS THE TROF APPROACHES AND THE CWA REMAINS IN THE WARM
SECTOR...WITH CAPE VALUES AROUND 1K J/KG. GIVEN THE LARGE SCALE LIFT
AND ADEQUATE INSTABILITY I WILL MAINTAIN A DEVELOPING SOLID CHC POPS
ACROSS THE CWA SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

THE PEAK OF THE MID LEVEL LIFT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS THE
SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION SATURDAY NIGHT. FORECAST SOUNDINGS
CONTINUE TO INDICATE FAIRLY STEEP LAPSE RATES AND ELEVATED
INSTABILITY DURING THE NIGHT. CONVECTION THAT INITIATES OVER THE
REGION ON FRIDAY WILL LIKELY PERSISTS OVER THE CWA THROUGH THE
NIGHT. IN FACT...GIVEN THE DEGREE AND DURATION OF THE LIFT AND
INCREASING STEERING FLOW IT APPEARS THAT SHRA/TSRA COVERAGE WILL
INCREASE DURING THE NIGHT. I WILL INCREASE POPS TO HIGH CHC NORTH TO
SOLID CHC SOUTH. A SIGNIFICANT SFC FRONT IS EXPECTED TO SWEEP WEST
TO EAST ACROSS THE REGION SUNDAY MORNING. BY DAYBREAK SUN...THE FRONT MAY
RUN ALONG THE EAST FACING SLOPES OF THE MTNS. AREAS ALONG AND AHEAD
OF THE FRONT MAY DEVELOP STEEP LAPSE RATES...AROUND 9C/KM BETWEEN
THE SFC AND H7. I WILL MAINTAIN HIGH CHC POPS DURING THE MORNING AND
INDICATE DECREASING POPS THROUGH THE DAY AS THE FRONT PUSHES EAST.

ON MONDAY...0Z ECMWF IS CONSIDERABLY SLOWER THE GFS. USING A BLEND
OF BOTH SOLUTIONS...LINGERING MOISTURE AND WEAK INSTABILITY MAY
SUPPORT A FEW SHRA/TSRA. I WILL KEEP A DIURNAL SCHC POP ACROSS THE
REGION. ON TUESDAY...THE ATMOSPHERE WILL DRY AS LARGE HIGH PRESSURE
PIVOTS OVER THE MID ATLANTIC REGION. LLVL WINDS SHOULD BECOME
EAST...RESULTING IN A LARGE AREA OF UPSLOPE FLOW ACROSS THE MTNS.
WEAK INSTABILITY...UPSLOPE FLOW...AND RIDGETOP CONVERGENCE MAY YIELD
A FEW HIGH TERRAIN SHRA/TSRA DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING.
I WILL INDICATE SCHC POPS ACROSS THE MTNS AND DRY CONDITIONS EAST.

TEMPERATURES ACROSS THE CWA MAY BEGIN THE PERIOD ON SATURDAY
SLIGHTLY BELOW NORMAL AND END THE PERIOD AROUND NORMAL ON TUESDAY.

&&

.AVIATION /02Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/...
AT KCLT AND ELSEWHERE...CONVECTION WILL STAY WELL S OF ALL TERMINALS
BEFORE COOLING AND DISSIPATING LATE THIS EVE. LGT W-NW WINDS WILL
BECOME NLY OVERNIGHT...THEN INCREASE WED AFTN. A LEE TROF WILL BRING
WINDS AROUND TO THE SW IN THE SC PIEDMONT WED AFTN.

OUTLOOK...VFR WED NIGHT. SCT TSTMS PSBL OVER MTNS THU AFTN-EVE. DRY
AGAIN FRI. INCRSNG CHC TSTMS LATE SAT-SUN.

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...ZH
NEAR TERM...PM/RB
SHORT TERM...JPT
LONG TERM...NED
AVIATION...RB
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 9, 6:44 PM EST, 2 hours 40 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
744 PM EDT TUE AUG 9 2011

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033-035>037-048>053-056>059-062>065-
068>072-082-501>510-SCZ001>014-019-102345-
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-
744 PM EDT TUE AUG 9 2011

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST GEORGIA...PIEDMONT
NORTH CAROLINA...WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY.

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

NONE.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 9, 3:27 PM EST, 5 hours 57 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
427 PM EDT TUE AUG 9 2011

GAZ026-028-092100-
FRANKLIN-HART-
427 PM EDT TUE AUG 9 2011

...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT FRANKLIN AND HART COUNTIES
THROUGH 5 PM...

AT 426 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A STRONG
THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING WINDS UP TO 50 MPH. THE STORM WAS
7 MILES WEST OF CARNESVILLE...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

LOCATIONS TO BE AFFECTED INCLUDE...

ROYSTON...
VANNA...

LANE
Special weather statement, Aug 9, 3:32 PM EST, 5 hours 52 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
432 PM EDT TUE AUG 9 2011

GAZ026-028-092100-
FRANKLIN-HART-
432 PM EDT TUE AUG 9 2011

...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT SOUTHERN FRANKLIN AND
SOUTHWESTERN HART COUNTIES THROUGH 500 PM EDT...

AT 426 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CARNESVILLE...MOVING EAST AT
25 MPH.

THIS STORM WILL BE NEAR...
  CARNESVILLE...
  ROYSTON...
  VANNA...

WIND GUSTS OF 40 TO 50 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM.

LAT...LON 3426 8313 3423 8317 3424 8326 3426 8329
      3424 8335 3426 8334 3431 8339 3442 8334
      3434 8294 3423 8305 3422 8307

LANE
Local storm report, Aug 9, 4:21 PM EST, 5 hours 3 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
521 PM EDT TUE AUG 09 2011

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0445 PM     TSTM WND DMG     4 SW CARNESVILLE        34.33N 83.28W
08/09/2011                   FRANKLIN           GA   TRAINED SPOTTER

            ONE TREE DOWN ON HW-326 BETWEEN ROCK PILLAR ROAD AND
            MCADAMS ROAD.

0445 PM     TSTM WND DMG     6 SW CARNESVILLE        34.31N 83.31W
08/09/2011                   FRANKLIN           GA   TRAINED SPOTTER

            ONE TREE DOWN ON BOLD SPRINGS ROAD.

&&

BSH
Local storm report, Aug 9, 4:40 PM EST, 4 hours 44 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
540 PM EDT TUE AUG 09 2011

..TIME...   ...EVENT...      ...CITY LOCATION...     ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....      ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0515 PM     TSTM WND DMG     BOWMAN                  34.20N 83.03W
08/09/2011                   ELBERT             GA   911 CALL CENTER

            ONE TREE DOWN ON HW-172

&&

BSH
Special weather statement, Aug 9, 9:08 PM EST, 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1008 PM EDT TUE AUG 9 2011

SCZ014-100245-
CHESTER-
1008 PM EDT TUE AUG 9 2011

...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT WESTERN CHESTER COUNTY THROUGH
1045 PM EDT...

AT 1004 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR LEEDS...OR 11 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CHESTER...
MOVING EAST AT 5 MPH.

WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM.

LAT...LON 3458 8143 3470 8141 3467 8125 3456 8129
      3456 8140

LANE

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 77 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:22 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Chester

When
August 9, 9:24 PM EST
Where
Chester County, 2.2 mi SE of Leeds
Measured
55 kt (63 mph) estimated gust
Reported by
Department of Highways
Coordinates
34.610, -81.350

Numerous trees were blown down in the southwest part of Chester County.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in South Carolina in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in South Carolina, August 2011

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: 341340.