Scattered thunderstorms developed over the North Carolina Mountains along a weak warm front during the afternoon hours. Some of the storms produced hail which ranged up to the size of quarters.
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.
Scattered thunderstorms developed over the North Carolina Mountains along a weak warm front during the afternoon hours. Some of the storms produced hail which ranged up to the size of quarters. Later in the evening a thunderstorm also produced some wind damage east of Charlotte.
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 Apr 3, 9:23 AM EST, 2 hours 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 1023 AM EDT TUE APR 3 2012 .SYNOPSIS... A BACK DOOR COLD FRONT WILL STALL ACROSS THE AREA TODAY. ANOTHER COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH WEDNESDAY...AND BACK DOOR ITS WAY ACROSS THE AREA THURSDAY BEFORE STALLING ONCE AGAIN. A RIDGE OF CANADIAN HIGH PRESSURE WILL GRADUALLY BUILD IN THURSDAY AND FRIDAY AND WEAKEN ACROSS THE AREA OVER THE WEEKEND. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... AS OF MID MORNING...VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS A BAND OF LOW STRATUS ACROSS MOST OF THE UPSTATE AND EXTENDING UP NORTH JUST EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE. THIS CLOUD AREA SHOULD START TO LIFT AND MIX OUT AROUND THE EDGES BY 15Z AND SCATTER OUT BY 16Z-17Z...AT WHICH TIME CONVECTIVE INITIATION IS EXPECTED OVER THE MTNS. TEMPS WILL NEED A MINOR ADJUSTMENT TO DELAY WARMUP IN THE CLOUDY AREAS...BUT MAX TEMPS DO NOT YET APPEAR TO BE IN DANGER. REMAINDER OF PREVIOUS DISCUSSION... A MID-TROPOSPHERIC RIDGE WILL REMAIN OVER THE REGION TODAY. HOWEVER...WEAK CONVECTIVELY INDUCED MCV/S WILL GRADUALLY HELP TO WEAKEN THE RIDGE BY LATE IN THE DAY. AT THE SFC...LLVL CONVERGENCE WILL INCREASE INTO THE AFTN HOURS ACROSS THE MTNS. WHILE THERE WILL BE LITTLE IN THE WAY OF SYNOPTIC SCALE FORCING...THERE SHOULD STILL BE A GOOD AMOUNT OF CONVECTIVE COVERAGE ACROSS THE MTNS...ESPECIALLY AS THE MID-LEVEL RIDGE STARTS TO WEAKEN. POPS HAVE BEEN NOTCHED UP TO 50 PERCENT FOR THE AFTN AND EVENING HOURS...WITH THE ADJACENT FORECAST OFFICES DOING THE SAME. STORMS WILL DRIFT TO THE EAST THIS AFTN...AND BY THE EARLY EVENING HOURS THE CONVECTION SHOULD MOVE INTO THE FOOTHILLS. IT WILL HAVE TROUBLE MAKING MUCH EASTWARD PROGRESS OVER THE NC ZONES WITH DRIER LLVL AIR IN PLACE. DOWN ACROSS SC AND NE GA THE STORMS SHOULD HAVE A LITTLE MORE LUCK. THE GFS ACTUALLY HAS CONSIDERABLE COVERAGE ACROSS SAVANNAH RIVER VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. I FAVOR THE NAM WHICH MAINTAINS THE IDENTITY OF THE WEAK WEDGE RIDGE OVER WRN GA TDA. THIS WILL FAVOR AREAS WEST OF THE FA FOR THE BEST AFTN AND EVENING COVERAGE OUTSIDE THE MTNS. STRATO-CU IS BEGINNING TO DEVELOP OVER THE NC FOOTHILLS. THIS AREA OF CLOUD COVER IS EXPECTED TO EXPAND OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS...AND ALSO FILL IN SOUTHWARD ACROSS THE UPSTATE. THE CLOUDS AND SLIGHTLY COOLER AIRMASS NORTH OF THE WEAK FRONT SHOULD HELP TO HOLD TEMPS DOWN A LITTLE TODAY...ESPECIALLY OVER THE NC ZONES AND ERN UPSTATE. THAT/S SOMEWHAT RELATIVE AS TEMPS WILL STILL RUN SEVERAL DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. THE MID LEVELS ARE STILL RATHER WARM...AND MOST OF THE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LIMITS TODAY. HOWEVER...A FEW PULSE SEVERE STORMS ARE POSSIBLE...WHICH IS WHAT WILL BE HIGHLIGHTED IN THE HWO. CONVECTION SLOWLY TAPERS OFF THIS EVENING...FOLLOWED BY ANOTHER MILD NIGHT WITH PATCHY AREAS OF FOG. && .SHORT TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT/... AS OF 310 AM TUESDAY...COMPLEX UPPER PATTERN/SPLIT FLOW REGIME WILL DOMINATE OVER THE EASTERN CONUS THROUGH THE PERIOD. A STRONG SOUTHERN PLAINS UPPER LOW WILL BE THE DOMINANT SOUTHERN STREAM FEATURE AT THE BEGINNING OF THE PERIOD...WHILE A STRONG SHORT WAVE TROUGH DIVING OUT OF EASTERN CANADA WILL INDUCE HEIGHT FALLS ALONG THE EAST COAST ON WEDNESDAY. THIS WILL ALLOW YET ANOTHER (STRONGER) FRONTAL BOUNDARY TO SAG SOUTH TOWARD THE CAROLINAS BY THE END OF THE DAY. MEANWHILE...THE SHORT TERM MODELS ARE REASONABLY CONSISTENT IN DEPICTING A DAMPENING SHORT WAVE TROUGH TOPPING THE TENN VALLEY UPPER RIDGE AND MOVING OVER THE REGION BY TOMORROW AFTERNOON. FORECAST SOUNDINGS ARE NOT PARTICULARLY IMPRESSIVE TOMORROW...OWING MAINLY TO WARM MID-LEVEL TEMPS/WEAK LAPSE RATES. NEVERTHELESS...WITH AMPLE MOISTURE IN PLACE AND SOME DEGREE OF FORCING...30-50 POPS ARE WARRANTED...WITH THE HIGHEST POPS RESIDING ACROSS THE NORTH NEARER THE APPROACHING FRONTAL ZONE. SINCE INSTABILITY WILL BE WEAK AND SHEAR LITTLE MORE THAN RESPECTABLE...CHANCES FOR SEVERE STORMS SHOULD REMAIN RELATIVELY LOW. BY EARLY THURSDAY...BROAD HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING OUT OF CENTRAL CANADA WILL ALLOW THE COLD FRONT TO BACK DOOR ITS WAY INTO THE AREA...BRINGING SUBSTANTIALLY COOLER AIR. IN FACT...WITH FROPA EXPECTED EARLY IN THE DAY ACROSS MUCH OF THE NC PIEDMONT...MAX TEMPS WILL LIKELY BE NEAR NORMAL (OR EVEN A LITTLE BELOW NORMAL) FOR A CHANGE. MEANWHILE...THE APPROACHING SOUTHERN STREAM UPPER LOW WILL RESULT IN GRADUALLY INCREASING SYNOPTIC SCALE FORCING THROUGH THE DAY...AND RESULTANT IMPROVING CONVERGENCE ALONG THE FRONT AND UPGLIDE OVER DEVELOPING COLD AIR WEDGE SHOULD RESULT IN EXPANDING COVERAGE OF CONVECTION BY AFTERNOON...WITH LIKELY POPS WARRANTED ACROSS THE WESTERN ZONES. RELATIVELY HIGH POPS CONTINUE INTO THURSDAY NIGHT...AS THE UPPER LOW PASSES OVER THE REGION. THE STRONGER SYNOPTIC FORCING AND DEGREE OF MOISTURE MAY SUPPORT A LOCALIZED EXCESSIVE RAINFALL THREAT FROM THU AFTERNOON THROUGH AT LEAST EARLY FRIDAY. && .LONG TERM /FRIDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... AS OF 340 AM TUESDAY...THE EARLY PORTION OF THE MEDIUM RANGE IS SOMEWHAT UNCERTAIN...AS DEPARTING UPPER LOW MAY LEAVE LINGERING DEFORMATION ZONE/WRAP-AROUND SHOWERS ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH FRIDAY. SLIGHT CHANCE POPS WILL THEREFORE BE RETAINED ACROSS THE SOUTHERN ZONES THROUGH FRI NIGHT. CONFIDENCE IS INCREASING THAT CANADIAN HIGH PRESSURE WILL SETTLE OVER THE REGION DURING THE WEEKEND IN THE WAKE OF THE UPPER LOW...RESULTING IN DRY WEATHER FOR A CHANGE. TEMPS WILL REMAIN BELOW NORMAL IN LINGERING COLD AIR DAMMING REGIME ON FRIDAY...THEN RETURN TO MUCH ABOVE NORMAL LEVELS BY SUNDAY AS THE CANADIAN AIR MASS RAPIDLY MODIFIES. THE GLOBAL MODELS AGREE THAT STRONG HEIGHT FALLS WILL OCCUR ACROSS THE EASTERN CONUS EARLY NEXT WEEK...BUT DISAGREE IN TIMING THE ARRIVAL OF ASSOCIATED FRONTAL ZONE/PRECIP POTENTIAL. THE ECMWF CONTINUES TO OFFER THE SLOWER SOLUTION...AND CONSIDERING ITS RECENT PERFORMANCE IT SEEMS PRUDENT TO HOLD OFF ON INTRODUCING POPS AT DAY 7. && .AVIATION /15Z TUESDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... AT KCLT...LOW CLOUDS HAVE DEVELOPED NORTHWEST OF THE AIRFIELD THIS MORNING...BUT THEY HAVE BEEN SLOW TO MOVE SOUTHEAST. AN MVFR DECK IS STILL EXPECTED TO MOVE IN...THOUGH THE TIMING HAS BEEN BUMPED BACK A LITTLE TO 1400 UTC. IT SHOULD COME IN UP AROUND 2KFT. A GENERAL ESE COMPONENT TO THE WINDS IS STILL EXPECTED UNTIL AROUND NOON...WITH THE WINDS VEERING TO THE SOUTH THEREAFTER. ISOLATED TO SCT TSTMS MAY DEVELOP THIS AFTN...THOUGH THE BULK OF THE ACTIVITY SHOULD STAY OVER THE MTNS AND FOOTHILLS. SOME FOG IS POSSIBLE LATE TONIGHT... THOUGH CONDITIONS DON/T LOOK FAVORABLE FOR DENSE FOG OR LOW STRATUS WITH A LIGHT DOWNSLOPE FLOW. ELSEWHERE...THE NAM MOS DID A GOOD JOB WITH THE LOW CIGS AS KGSP AND KGMU WENT IFR AT 1000 UTC. THE LLVL FLOW ISN/T QUITE AS FAVORABLE AT KAND...BUT AN MVFR DECK IS EXPECTED THERE IN SHORT ORDER...AND AN IFR TEMP GROUND HAS BEEN ADDED. THE IFR CIGS WILL SLOWLY LIFT INTO THE THE MVFR RANGE BY LATE MORNING BEFORE MIXING OUT BY EARLY AFTN. KAVL HAS HAD NO CLOUD COVER OVERNIGHT. I DON/T SEE ANY FOG OR STRATUS ON THE FOG PRODUCT...SO I/LL GO WITH VFR CONDITIONS THERE THIS MORNING. TSTMS WILL DEVELOP AROUND THE AIRFIELD THIS AFTN AND CB/S HAVE BEEN RETAINED THERE. KAVL WILL FALL WELL BELOW THEIR CROSSOVER TEMP TONIGHT...AND DENSE VALLEY FOG MAY DEVELOP. KHKY SHOULD RETAIN MVFR CIGS FOR SEVERAL MORE HOURS. A WEAK BACK DOOR FRONT HAS TURNED THE WINDS OUT OF THE NE ACROSS THE FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT THIS MORNING. KAVL IS CALM. THE WINDS WILL GRADUALLY VEER TO THE SOUTH BY AROUND NOON...AND STAY OUT OF THE SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST THROUGH THE NIGHT AT LIGHT SPEEDS. OUTLOOK...ISOLATED TO SCATTERED MAINLY DIURNAL SHOWERS AND TSTMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THRU THE WEEK...WITH ASSOC FLIGHT RESTRICTIONS. TSTM CHC WILL INCREASE TOWARD MID-WEEK AS A COLD FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE WEST. COLD AIR DAMMING MAY BRING WIDESPREAD LOW CIGS AND VSBYS BY FRIDAY OR FRIDAY NIGHT. 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...MCAVOY/PM SHORT TERM...JDL LONG TERM...JDL AVIATION...MCAVOY
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 616 AM EDT TUE APR 3 2012 GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033-035-048>053-056-058-059-062>065- 068-501>510-SCZ001>008-010>013-019-041030- RABUN-HABERSHAM-STEPHENS-FRANKLIN-HART-ELBERT-AVERY-ALEXANDER- MADISON-YANCEY-MITCHELL-SWAIN-HAYWOOD-BUNCOMBE-CATAWBA-GRAHAM- NORTHERN JACKSON-MACON-SOUTHERN JACKSON-TRANSYLVANIA-HENDERSON- CLEVELAND-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-ANDERSON-ABBEVILLE-LAURENS-UNION SC-GREENWOOD- 616 AM EDT TUE APR 3 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST GEORGIA...PIEDMONT NORTH CAROLINA...WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OVER THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS THIS AFTERNOON...WITH MORE ISOLATED CONVECTION OUT ACROSS THE PIEDMONT. THE MAIN THREAT FROM THUNDERSTORMS TODAY WILL BE LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN AND CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. HOWEVER...A FEW PULSE SEVERE STORMS ARE STILL POSSIBLE. HIGHLY LOCALIZED WIND DAMAGE WILL BE THE MOST LIKELY FORM OF SEVERE WEATHER. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... NONE.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1254 PM EDT TUE APR 3 2012
NCZ052-031730-
HAYWOOD-
1254 PM EDT TUE APR 3 2012
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT NORTHERN HAYWOOD COUNTY THROUGH
130 PM EDT...
AT 1251 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
STRONG THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF COVE CREEK...OR 13 MILES
NORTHWEST OF WAYNESVILLE...MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.
PEOPLE IN NORTHERN HAYWOOD COUNTY...
SHOULD MONITOR THE WEATHER SITUATION CLOSELY. LISTEN FOR POSSIBLE
WARNINGS AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION SHOULD SEVERE
WEATHER THREATEN.
DIME SIZE HAIL...AND WIND GUSTS OF 30 TO 40 MPH ARE EXPECTED WITH
THIS STORM.
LAT...LON 3579 8296 3575 8296 3575 8293 3562 8285
3562 8284 3561 8283 3554 8315 3560 8318
3563 8317 3565 8320 3567 8318 3568 8321
3571 8323
NEDThe Knoxville radar (KMRX), 72 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:14 UTC.
8 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A slow moving thunderstorm dropped nickel to quarter size hail in the Cove Creek and Jonathan Creek areas.
Nickel size hail fell in the Needmore community.
Penny size hail was reportedly covering the ground near Thorpe Dam.
Nickel to quarter size hail fell near the intersection of highway 280 and Hunters Ridge Rd.
Hail up to the size of quarters was reported to be covering the ground in Tuckasegee.
Multiple trees were blown down along Waxhaw Highway, especially near the intersection of South Rocky River Rd.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, April 2012
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: 377299, 377300, 377301, 377302, 377303, 377305, 377311, 377307, 377599.