Isolated thunderstorms developed across the North Carolina Blue Ridge and vicinity during the afternoon. One of the storms produced brief damaging wind gusts and large hail in the foothills.
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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.
Isolated thunderstorms developed across the North Carolina Blue Ridge and vicinity during the afternoon. One of the storms produced brief damaging wind gusts and large hail in the foothills.
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 May 14, 12:31 PM EST, 57 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Greenville-Spartanburg SC 131 PM EDT Wed May 14 2025 .SYNOPSIS... Low pressure will move slowly northeast to the Mid- Atlantic Coast tonight then off the coast on Thursday. Drier high pressure moves over our area Thursday with a weak cold front moving south across our area over the weekend then the front becomes stationary. Above normal temperatures will continue through the weekend and into early next week. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... As of 923 AM Wednesday: An early morning cluster of convection has weakened as it continues to lift northeast across the I-77 corridor. Here, showers will continue for another hour or two before all precipitation shifts out of the area. The ongoing forecast captures this well and no significant changes were needed. Morning low clouds will also lift and scatter by early afternoon with a warm and humid day as temperatures climb into the mid 70s to low 80s. The aforementioned low pressure system is expected to continue its northeastward trek today while the upper low opens up into a negatively tilted wave over the Upper Ohio Valley/Mid-Atlantic regions. The passage of the mid/upper trof axis is expected this morning, and that will carry one batch of shower activity away to the E/NE while weakening in the middle part of the day. Thereafter, the CAMs suggest the bulk of the afternoon will be relatively quiet, which makes some sense as the environment won't be quite so favorable in the wake of the upper wave. However, there is good indications that we should be able to destabilize thru the afternoon to the tune of 1500-2000 J/kg of sfc-based CAPE mainly outside the mtns. Then, things might get interesting. Guidance suggests that late in the afternoon into the evening the deep layer shear across northeast GA into the western Upstate will climb into the 30-40 kt range, which should be a sufficient to allow for supercell thunderstorms. That is, if we manage to develop storms at all. Note the 00Z CAMs are not particularly interested in making anything more than widely scattered storms. That suggests our severe weather potential is very conditional upon developing enough of a storm to acquire supercell characteristics. If that can happen, the Marginal Risk on the new Day 1 makes sense for wind and hail. Something to keep an eye on. Otherwise, temps will be back to normal. The convection might not exactly diminish in the way we might normally expect, as there are indications that the stronger NW flow might continue to organize storms upstream and drive them southeastward into the early morning hours in a loosely organized band that translates eastward over western NC. That is still somewhat sketchy but also worth keeping track. The fcst doesn't really indicate that for the moment, so don't be surprised by a big increase in precip probs late tonight if the model trend holds. Lows tonight will be mild once again. && .SHORT TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY/... As of 300 AM Wednesday: Relatively quieter weather expected Thursday and Friday, as an upper ridge builds into the Southeast. The ridging, combined with an elevated mixed layer (EML) in the profiles will work to largely cap the atmosphere of deep convection. The exception will be mainly in the northern NC mountains, which may see some diurnal mountaintop activity Thursday aftn, which should be sub-severe. Friday looks basically completely capped thru the day, with NAM soundings showing over 100 J/kg of CINH with over 4000 J/kg of sbCAPE. The GFS has less CINH, but also a lot less CAPE. Not surprisingly, the deterministic guidance has little to no QPF response across the CWFA either day. Temps will continue a warming trend, with highs about 5-8 deg above normal Thu and 8-12 deg above normal Friday. There is still some hint that an organized cluster of storms or a full-blown MCS may form and track into the OH/TN Valley late Friday. It seems the models are trending a little slower with this activity, with it not reaching the TN/NC border until after 06z Sat. At that time of day, there may not be enough instability to sustain the activity thru the mountains. However, depending on the timing, they could be slow enough to either cross the area during the day Saturday, or at least lay out an outflow boundary that triggers storms in the CWFA Saturday. All that to say, the PoP forecast for Friday night thru Saturday is a low confidence forecast. Plenty of bulk shear will be in place, thanks to a passing trough to our north. So severe storms may be possible. The new Day 3 Convective Outlook has a slight risk to our west, with a marginal just to the TN/NC border. Temps will continue to be about 10 deg above normal Saturday. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... As of 330 AM Wednesday...An upper trough will pass by to our north, briefly flattening the Southeastern ridge. A weak cold front will slip thru the area on Saturday, which depending on the timing, may bring a round of showers and storms. But not all the guidance agrees on that, with the GFS in particular, rather dry. In any case, Sunday looks largely dry as high pres noses in from the north and the frontal boundary stalls out just to our southwest. The medium range guidance is not in great agreement on how far south the front gets shunted, and may start to lift back into the area as early as Sunday night. Despite the front's close proximity, early next week doesn't look too active, as we will be in a NWLY flow regime with a building upper ridge axis over the MS Valley. Temps are expected to be slightly cooler than Friday and Saturday's forecast highs, but still above normal. && .AVIATION /18Z WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY/... At KCLT and elsewhere: Morning stratus has since lifted and scattered with most ceiling restrictions coming to an end, although a brief period or two of MVFR cannot be ruled out at any given terminal. Isolated to widely scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected this afternoon into the evening, but where these may form is uncertain. PROB30 groups have been maintained at all TAF sites accordingly, but will need updating once storms develop and tracks become more certain. The forecast becomes murky overnight as another round of showers and storms may drop into the area from the northwest. Confidence as to whether this actually occurs remains low and will preclude mention in the TAF at this time. There will also be the potential for another round of low stratus, which has been advertised as MVFR for now. Should storms move through the area, fog and stratus issues would be less likely. Should fog and low stratus develop, some terminals may see restrictions worse than currently advertised, potentially as low as IFR/LIFR. Any fog/stratus should lift/mix out through the morning hours tomorrow with a return to VFR. Outlook: In general, a summertime pattern is expected through the end of the week with diurnally driven convective storms each day. In addition, fog and low stratus will be possible each morning, primarily in the mtn valleys and in areas that receive appreciable rainfall the previous day. && .GSP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GA...None. NC...None. SC...None. && SYNOPSIS...ARK NEAR TERM...PM/TW SHORT TERM...ARK LONG TERM...ARK AVIATION...TW
Hazardous Weather Outlook National Weather Service Greenville-Spartanburg SC 443 AM EDT Wed May 14 2025 GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033-035>037-048>053-056>059-062>065- 068>072-082-501>510-SCZ008>014-019-101>109-150845- 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- Caldwell Mountains-Greater Caldwell-Burke Mountains-Greater Burke- McDowell Mountains-Eastern McDowell-Rutherford Mountains- Greater Rutherford-Polk Mountains-Eastern Polk-Cherokee-York- Anderson-Abbeville-Laurens-Chester-Greenwood-Oconee Mountains- Pickens Mountains-Greenville Mountains-Greater Oconee- Greater Pickens-Central Greenville-Southern Greenville- Northern Spartanburg-Southern Spartanburg- 443 AM EDT Wed May 14 2025 This Hazardous Weather Outlook is for northeast Georgia, Piedmont North Carolina, western North Carolina and Upstate South Carolina. .DAY ONE...Today and tonight. Scattered showers and thunderstorms are expected to develop across the area this afternoon into this evening. A severe thunderstorm or two cannot be ruled out, with large hail and damaging winds as potential threats. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...Thursday through Tuesday. No hazardous weather is expected at this time. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... None. ARK
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Greenville-Spartanburg SC
139 PM EDT Wed May 14 2025
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0740 PM Tornado 3 NE Calhoun Falls 34.12N 82.55W
05/12/2025 Abbeville SC NWS Storm Survey
A brief and weak EF-0 tornado touched down
along Old Calhoun Falls Road near Mud Creek
Road. The tornado moved northeast,
paralleling Old Calhoun Falls Road, before
dissipating near the intersection with
Latimer Road. The tornado snapped multiple
large limbs and uprooted a couple trees.
Maximum estimated winds were 65 mph with a
width of 20 yards.
&&
TWThe Greer radar (KGSP), 118 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:27 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Utility company reported trees blown down on power lines, causing an outage.
County comms reported quarter size hail.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2025Every state in 2025This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, May 2025
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: 1266954, 1266953.