Local Data and Research

Latest Event Reviews

• The Impact of Hermine on the Western Carolinas and Northeast Georgia, 2-3 September 2016
• Event Summary of 19 April 2019 Flash Flooding
• Event Summary of the 8-9 December 2018 Winter Storm
• Event Summary of the 17-19 May 2018 Flash Flood
• Event Summary of 23 October 2017 Severe Weather and Tornadoes
• Event Summary of the 8 October 2017 Tornadoes
• Event Summary of 24 May 2017 Severe Weather and Tornadoes

Latest Journal Articles

• Northwest Flow Aspects of Hurricane Sandy

Collaborative Research Projects

• Northwest Flow Snowfall Discussion Group Page
• Collaboration for Improved Meteorology in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeast

Journal Articles
 

Research papers by current and past members of the NWS GSP staff

• Northwest Flow Aspects of Hurricane Sandy. Steve Keighton, Douglas K. Miller, David Hotz, Patrick D. Moore, L. Baker Perry, Laurence G. Lee, and Daniel T. Martin, Wea. Forecasting 2016, 31:1, 173-195, December 2015.

• A Climatological Analysis of Heatbursts in Oklahoma (1994-2009). Renee A. McPherson, Justin D. Lane, Kenneth C. Crawford, and William G. McPherson, Int. J. Climatol., V. 31 No. 4, 531-544, March 2011.

• Synoptic Classification of Snowfall Events in the Great Smoky Mountains, USA. L. Baker Perry, Charles E. Konrad, David Hotz, and Laurence G. Lee, Physical Geography, Bellweather Publishing, Ltd., V. 31 No. 2, March-April 2010.

• A Collaborative Approach to Study Northwest Flow Snow in the Southern Appalachians. Steve Keighton, Laurence Lee, Blair Holloway, David Hotz, Steven Zubrick, Jeffrey Hovis, Gary Votaw, L. Baker Perry, Gary Lackmann, Sandra E. Yuter, Charles Konrad, Douglas Miller, and Brian Etherton, Bull. Amer. Meteor. Soc., 90, 979-991.

• Geologic, geomorphic, and meteorological aspects of debris flows triggered by Hurricanes Frances and Ivan during September 2004 in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of Macon County, North Carolina (southeastern USA). - R. M. Wooten, K. A. Gillon, A. C. Witt, R. S. Latham, T. J. Douglas, J. B. Bauer, S. J. Fuemmeler, and Laurence G. Lee - Landslides. Springer - Verlag, Vol. 5, February 2008.

• Rainfall characteristics associated with the remnants of Tropical Storm Helene in upstate South Carolina -Carlton W. Ulbrich and Laurence G. Lee -Weather and Forecasting. American Meteorological Society, Vol. 17, December 2002.

• Model representation of freezing and melting precipitation: Implications for winter weather forecasting -Gary M. Lackmann, Kermit Keeter, Laurence G. Lee, and Michael B. Ek -Weather and Forecasting. American Meteorological Society, Vol. 17, October 2002.

• Rainfall measurement error by WSR-88D radars due to variations in Z-R law parameters and the radar constant -Carlton W. Ulbrich and Laurence G. Lee -Journal of Atmospheric and Oceanic Technology American Meteorological Society, Vol. 16, August 1999.

NWS Eastern Region Technical Attachments -

• A Severe Weather Climatology for the Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina, County Warning Area - Justin Lane.

• A Comprehensive Climatology of Significant Tornadoes in the Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina County Warning Area (1880 - 2006) - Justin Lane - 2008

• The Hybrid High Wind Event of March 7, 2004 in the Piedmont of the Western Carolinas - Harry Gerapetritis - 2007

• On the Behavior of the Critical Success Index - Harry Gerapetritis and Joseph M. Pelissier - 2004

• Intelligent Use of a Lapse Rate Smart Tool in the Graphical Forecast Editor - Harry Gerapetritis and Laurence G. Lee - 2003

• A Record Southeastern Snowfall in the Absence of a Rapidly Deepening Extratropical Cyclone -- Benjamin W. Moyer - 2001

• A Climatological Analysis of Winter Precipitation Events at Greenville-Spartanburg, SC -- Benjamin W. Moyer - 2001

• A Radar-based Climatology of July Convective Initiation in Georgia and Surrounding Area -- Douglas E. Outlaw and Michael P. Murphy - 2000

• A study of three-quarter inch hail reports in Upstate South Carolina - 1988 to 1994 -Eastern Region General Interest Paper - Wayne Jones -1999

• Isentropic Analysis Applications in Forecasting Low-Level Clouds -Eastern Region General Interest Paper - Kenneth James -1997

Conference Papers and Presentations

• An Examination of Preliminary Local Storm Reports during the Historic South Carolina Rainfall Event September 30, 2015 - October 6, 2015. Neil Dixon - 41st Natl. Wea. Assoc. Annual Meeting, Norfolk, VA


• Social Media Analysis of the October 2015 South Carolina Floods. Sandy LaCorte, Neil Dixon, Trisha D. Palmer, S. Hunter Coleman, Emily Timte - 41st Natl. Wea. Assoc. Annual Meeting, Norfolk, VA


• National Weather Service Impact-Based Decision Support Services Provided During the October 2015 South Carolina Floods. Sandy LaCorte, Neil Dixon, Trisha D. Palmer, S. Hunter Coleman, Emily Timte - 41st Natl. Wea. Assoc. Annual Meeting, Norfolk, VA


• Social Media Dashboard -- A Locally Developed Application. Neil Dixon - 2014. 39th Natl. Wea. Assoc. Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT. Abstract


• Overview of the 28 January 2014 Southeast Winter Storm. Trisha D. Palmer, S. Hunter Coleman, Patrick D. Moore, Adam K. Baker, Jason T. Deese, Jessica L. Fieux, Alexander R. Gibbs, Steven E. Nelson, and Keith M. Stellman - 2014. 39th Natl. Wea. Assoc. Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT.


• Overview of the 11-13 February 2014 Winter Storm across the Southeast. Trisha D. Palmer, S. Hunter Coleman, Patrick D. Moore, Adam K. Baker, Jason T. Deese, Jessica L. Fieux, Alexander R. Gibbs, Steven E. Nelson, and Keith M. Stellman - 2014. 39th Natl. Wea. Assoc. Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT.
   
• An Investigation of a Convective Snow Event Over Upstate South Carolina on 16 February 2013. - Patrick D. Moore - 2014. 71st Eastern Snow Conference, Boone, NC.

• Coupling atmospheric and hydrological modeling toward flash flood forecast improvement: An HMT-Southeast case study from the 2013 Flash Flood and Intense Rainfall Forecast Experiment. Kelly M. Mahoney, and F. E. Barthold, D. J. Gochis, J. J. Gourley, T. E. Workoff, L. Bernardet, James Oh, R. Cifelli, and E. Sukovich - 2014. 94th Amer. Met. Soc. Annual Meeting, Atlanta, GA.

• Northwest flow snow aspects of Sandy. Part IV: Radar and satellite observations. Patrick D. Moore, Laurence G. Lee, Steven M. Zubrick, and L. Baker Perry - 2013. Extended Abstract, 38th Natl. Wea. Assoc. Annual Meeting, Charleston, SC.

• Landslides and Weather: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Anticipating the Hazard and Communicating the Threat. Jennifer Bauer, Richard Wooten, and Patrick D. Moore - 2011. , 54th AEG Annual Meeting, Anchorage, AK.

• Overview of the 2009-2010 Snow Season in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. - L. Baker Perry, David Hotz, Stephen Keighton, Laurence G. Lee, J. Dobson, D. Hall, and Charles E. Konrad - 2010. 67th Eastern Snow Conference, Hancock, MA.

• The Role of the Great Lakes in the 10-11 February 2005 Northwest Flow Snowfall Event in the Southern Applachian Mountains. - Blair Holloway and Gary Lackmann - 2008. 33rd Natl. Wea. Assoc. Annual Meeting, Louisville, KY.

• Snowfall Accumulation forecasting challenges for the southern Applachians. - Douglas K. Miller, L. Baker Perry, Sandra E. Yuter, Laurence G. Lee and Stephen Keighton - 2008. 33rd Natl. Wea. Assoc. Annual Meeting, Louisville, KY.

• A Sounding Derived Climatology of Significant Tornado Events in the Greenville-Spartanburg, South Carolina, County Warning Area (1948 - 2006) - Justin D. Lane - 2008. Preprints, 24th Conference on Severe Local Storms, Savannah, GA, American Meteorological Society.

• A Climatology of Heatbursts As Detected by the Oklahoma Mesonet. - Renee A. McPherson, Kenneth C. Crawford, Justin D. Lane and William J. McPherson, Jr. - 2008. Preprints, 17th Conference on Applied Climatology, Whistler, BC, American Meteorological Society.

• Atmospheric Influences on New Snowfall Density in the Southern Appalachian Mountains, USA. - L. Baker Perry, Douglas K. Miller, Sandra E. Yuter, Laurence G. Lee, and Stephen Keighton - 2008. 65th Eastern Snow Conference, Fairlee, VT.

• Synoptic Classification of Snowfall Events in the Great Smoky Mountains, USA. - L. Baker Perry, Charles E. Konrad, David Hotz, and Laurence G. Lee - 2007. 64th Eastern Snow Conference, St. Johns, NL.

• Observations of a non-supercell tornadic thunderstorm from a Terminal Doppler Weather Radar - Justin D. Lane and Patrick D. Moore - 2006, Preprints, 23rd Conference on Severe Local Storms, St. Louis, MO, American Meteorological Society.

• Environmental aspects of two tornado outbreaks associated with landfalling tropical cyclones - Justin D. Lane - 2005, 4th Southeast Severe Storms Symposium, Starkville, MS, Mississippi State University.

• The role of a surface boundary and multiple-cell mergers in the development of the 21 April 2003 tornado in upstate South Carolina - Bryan P. McAvoy - 2004, Preprints, 22nd Conference on Severe Local Storms, Hyannis, MA, American Meteorological Society.

• A climatological analysis of heatbursts in Oklahoma - Justin D. Lane - 2002, Preprints, 21st Conference on Severe Local Storms, San Antonio, TX, American Meteorological Society, 87-90.

• Investigation of an unusual storm structure associated with weak to occasionally strong tornadoes over the Eastern United States - Bryan P. McAvoy, Wayne A. Jones, and Patrick D. Moore - 2000, Preprints, 20th Conference on Severe Local Storms, Orlando, FL, American Meteorological Society, 182-185.

• Short-term forecasting of tornadic environments in the complex terrain of western North Carolina - Harry Gerapetritis - Preprints, 20th Conference on Severe Local Storms, Orlando, FL, American Meteorological Society, 567-570.

• Characteristics of WSR-88D velocity and reflectivity patterns associated with a cold season non-supercell tornado in upstate South Carolina - Laurence G. Lee and Wayne A. Jones - 1998, Preprints, 19th Conference on Severe Local Storms, Minneapolis, MN, American Meteorological Society, 151-154.

• An analysis of the 4 September 1996 Hickory Nut Gorge flash flood in western North Carolina - Thomas P. Johnstone and Stephen A. Burrus - 1998, Preprints, 16th Conference on Weather Analysis and Forecasting, Phoenix, AZ, American Meteorological Society, 275-277.

• Comparison of reflectivity factors determined from disdrometer and WSR-88D measurements in upstate South Carolina - Carlton W. Ulbrich, Joseph M. Pelissier, and Laurence G. Lee - 1997, Preprints, 28th Conference on Radar Meteorology, Austin, TX, American Meteorological Society, 382-383.

• Effects of variations in Z-R law parameters and the radar constant on rainfall rates measured by WSR-88D radars - Carlton W. Ulbrich, Joseph M. Pelissier, and Laurence G. Lee - 1996, Preprints, 15th Conference on Weather Analysis and Forecasting, Norfolk, VA, American Meteorological Society 316-319.

Past Weather Events

Brief reviews of significant weather events in our county warning area

2019

• Event Summary of 19 April 2019 Flash Flooding

2018

• Event Summary of the 8-9 December 2018 Winter Storm
• Event Summary of the 17-19 May 2018 Flash Flood

2017

• Event Summary of 23 October 2017 Severe Weather and Tornadoes
• Event Summary of the 8 October 2017 Tornadoes
• Event Summary of 24 May 2017 Severe Weather and Tornadoes

2016

• The Impact of Hermine on the Western Carolinas and Northeast Georgia, 2-3 September 2016
• Storm Total Snowfall January 21-24, 2016

2015

• 72 Hours of Rainfall Ending December 31, 2015
• 36 Hours of Rainfall Ending Thursday 19 November 2015
• An Examination of Preliminary Local Storm Reports during the Historic South Carolina Rainfall Event September 30th, 2015 -- October 6th, 2015

2014

• Tornadoes touch down near the Blue Ridge in the Carolinas on 14 October 2014
• The All-Snow Event of 28 January 2014
• A Look Back at the Western Carolina Violent Tornado Outbreak of 5 May 1989

2013

• An Examination of Excessive Heat Occurrences in the Western Carolinas
• A Twenty Year Recollection of the Superstorm of March 1993 in the Western Carolinas and Extreme Northeast Georgia
• Convective Snow Across Upstate South Carolina and the Charlotte Metro Area on 16 February 2013
• Tennessee Border Snow on 17-18 January 2013

2012

• An Early Season Snow Event from the Remnants of Hurricane Sandy – 28-31 October 2012
• A Widespread Severe Weather Outbreak on 1 July 2012
• A Relationship Between Snowfall and Storm Tracks in the Greenville-Spartanburg County Warning Area
• Single and Dual-Polarization Radar Observations of the Laurens County Thunderstorm Cluster on May 17th, 2012
• Tornado Strikes Eastern Mecklenburg County and Western Cabarrus County on 3 March 2012
• The Northwest Flow Snow Event of 11 February 2012.
• Rare Wintertime Tornadoes across the North Carolina Foothills on 11 January 2012
• The New Year 2012 Northwest Flow Snow Event.

2011

• Tornado hits near Rock Hill on 16 November 2011.
• The Quallah Boundary Flash Flood of 14 and 15 July 2011.
• An Epic Outbreak of tornadoes affects northeast Georgia and western North Carolina on 27-28 April 2011
• Tornadoes over the western Piedmont of North Carolina from the Carolinas/Virginia Tornado Outbreak of 16 April 2011.
• The Heavy Snow and Freezing Rain of 10-11 January 2011.

2010

• Christmas Day 2010 Snowfall.
• Heavy Snow Over Western North Carolina from a Pre-Frontal Precipitation Band on 12 December 2010.
• Tornado hits near the Buck Stand community in Abbeville County, South Carolina, on 3 May 2010.
• Tornadoes touch down near Fair Play and Pendleton, South Carolina, on 8 April 2010.
• The Palm Sunday, March 28, 2010, Severe Weather Outbreak, including the tornadoes that struck Belmont and Spencer, North Carolina.
• Snow Accumulation Map for 2-3 March 2010 Winter Storm
• Snow Accumulation Map for 12-13 February 2010 Winter Storm
• The 4-6 February 2010 Winter Storm, including heavy snow and ice across the mountains and foothills of North Carolina, flooding rain in the French Broad River, Broad River, and Catawba River basins, and the Rich Cove debris flow.
• The Heavy Snow of 29-30 January 2010
• A Review of the Record-Breaking Snow and Persistent Cold of February and March 1960

2009

• The 18-20 December 2009 Winter Storm
• The 17-22 September, 2009 Heavy Rain Event
• The Good Friday Severe Weather Outbreak of 10 April 2009
• The Winter Storm of 1-2 March 2009

2008

• An Early Season Northwest Flow Snowfall Event on 28 October 2008
• Tornadoes and Flooding Associated With the Remnants of Tropical Storm Fay, 25-27 August 2008
• Tornadoes hit Advance, North Carolina, on 8 May and McAdenville, North Carolina, on 9 May
• The Kings Mountain tornado of 28 April 2008
• Tornadoes strike near Fallston and Lincolnton on 19 April 2008
• The Ides Of March Supercell outbreak across northeast Georgia and Upstate South Carolina
• A squall line produces severe weather across the western Carolinas on 4 March 2008
• A Comparison of Two Northwest Flow Snowfall Events from the 2007 - 2008 Winter Season (1-2 January and 27-28 February, 2008).

2007

• Remnants of Humberto spawn a tornado near Hickory Tavern, South Carolina, on September 14, 2007
• Tornadoes strike Liberty and Moore, South Carolina, and near Gastonia, North Carolina, on 5 January 2007

2005

• A case study of the ice storm of 15 December 2005 in the western Carolinas and extreme northeast Georgia.

2004

• The deadly debris flow along Peeks Creek in Macon County NC during Hurricane Ivan, 16-17 September 2004
• The remnants of Frances (6-8 September 2004), Ivan (16-17 September 2004), and Jeanne (26-28 September 2004) resulted in heavy rain over the western Carolinas and northeast Georgia. Click on the storm names above for individual rainfall, for an easy rainfall comparison click here.
• 29 July 2004: Flash flooding pushed the Reedy River at Greenville to near record levels.

1997

• The High Shear/Low CAPE Severe Weather Event of 21 February 1997.