Local Research and

Reviews Of Past Events

What's New?

In the Event Review Section:

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

In the Journal Article Section:

• Northwest Flow Aspects of Hurricane Sandy

Links to 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 staff of GSP

• 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

2018

• Event Summary of the 17-19 May 2018 Flash Flood

2017

• Event Summary of 23 October 2017 Severe Weather and 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.

• 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.

• 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

• 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

• 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).
• Snow Accumulation Map for 16-17 January Winter Storm

• Remnants of Humberto spawn a tornado near Hickory Tavern, South Carolina, on September 14, 2007
• Record breaking heat across the western Carolinas, August 2007
• The April 15-16, 2007 High Wind Event
• An early April Northwest Flow snowfall event and cold air outbreak
• The 17-18 February 2007 Northwest Flow snow event
• The 9 January 2007 Northwest Flow snow event
• Tornadoes strike Liberty and Moore, South Carolina, and near Gastonia, North Carolina, on 5 January 2007

• A record number of severe thunderstorms across the western Carolinas and northeast Georgia during 2006.
• Tornadoes strike the western Piedmont of North Carolina on 15 November 2006
• Severe thunderstorms sweep across the Lakelands and Lower Piedmont of South Carolina on 28 September 2006
• Flash flooding along Twelvemile Creek and the Hickory Nut Gorge on 26 June 2006, including a debris flow at Jones Gap State Park
• Severe thunderstorms across the western Carolinas on 10-12 June 2006
• Tornado strikes northern Gaston County east of Cherryville on 26 May 2006
• The Mothers Day 2006 severe weather outbreak across the Piedmont of the Carolinas including the Rimer, North Carolina (Cabarrus County), tornado
• The Belton hail storm of 21 April 2006
• A Case Study: The mountain snow event of 11-13 February 2006
• An overview of the Bessemer City tornado of 13 January 2006
• An unseasonably warm January for the western Carolinas and extreme northeast Georgia.

• A case study of the ice storm of 15 December 2005 in the western Carolinas and extreme northeast Georgia.
• October 7 and 8, 2005: A list of rainfall reports from the western Carolinas and northeast Georgia after the passage of the remnants of T.S. Tammy.
• July 6 and 7, 2005: A list of rainfall reports from the western Carolinas and northeast Georgia after the passage of the remnants of T.S. Cindy.
• January 29-30th, 2005: Winter storm produced widespread accumulations of snow, sleet, and freezing rain.
• January 13-14th, 2005: Information on the tornadoes that affected Laurens County, SC and Rowan County, NC.

• 19 December 2004: Significant snow storm affects the mountains of North Carolina.
• 25 November 2004: A brief tornado touched down near Santuck in Union County, South Carolina.
• 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.
• 26-27 February 2004: A major winter storm hit the western Carolinas and northeast Georgia. The storm produced a large area of greater 4 inches of snow accumulation. Some spots saw snow pile over a foot and a half deep!
• 27 January 2004 Winter Storm: List of snow and ice accumulation reports

• 2003 Ranked within the top 10 wettest years for Asheville, Charlotte, and Greenville-Spartanburg.
• December 18-19th, 2003: Event map and list of reports.
• December 13-14th, 2003: List of Ice, Sleet, and Snow Reports received.
• December 4th, 2003: An event map and report listing for a northwest snow event.
• November 28-29th, 2003: An event map and report listing for a northwest snow event.
• July 1-2, 2003: The remnants of Tropical Storm Bill drenched northeast Georgia and the western Carolinas.
• 30 March 2003 Snowfall Map
• January 23, 2003: An analysis of a heavy snow event in the lee of the Appalachians.
• January 16-17, 2003: A case study of a snow event in the mountains and foothills of the western Carolinas and extreme northern Georgia.

• 4-5 December 2002: An overview of a major winter storm.
• 10-11 November 2002: A case study of an significant outbreak of severe thunderstorms (31 warnings issued, 29 for severe thunderstorms, and 2 for tornadoes). Storm Survey.
• 19 January 2002: An in situ wedge with a temperature contrast of over 30 degrees Fahrenheit a short distance across the front.
• 6-7 January 2002 Winter Storm: More of a bust analysis as much of the warning area for this snow and ice event did not verify.
• 2-3 January 2002 Winter Storm: A well forecast event that was all snow.

• 17 October 2001 Warm Anomaly: Case study briefly examining an area of warm temperatures and strong winds that develops over the French Broad River Valley and Upstate South Carolina behind cold fronts.
• 8 July 2001 Mesoscale Convective System: A large bow echo crossed the North Carolina Mountains during the late afternoon and early evening hours.
• 9 June 2001 Union County, South Carolina, Landspout: A weak, non-supercell tornado occurred this day in southern Union County
• 17 April 2001 northwest snow event: A late season snow event. Snow showers even fell east of the mountains with temperatures near 50 degrees.
• 1 April 2001 severe thunderstorms: An unusual event that produced damaging winds and large hail with dewpoints in the mid 40s.
• 20-21 March 2001 Winter Storm: A high-elevation late season heavy snow event. Map only.
• 6 March 2001 wind and snow: Strong northwest flow event. Damaging winds affected most of the higher elevations of the County Warning Area. Map only.
• 22 February 2001 snow and sleet: A mix of snow and sleet, with the highest accumulations in the western foothills. Map only.
• 25 January 2001 snow: A minor northwest flow snow event.
• 20 January 2001 snow: A northwest flow snow event.
• 19 January 2001 tornado and microburst near the town of Vanna in Hart County, Georgia.

• 19 December 2000 snow: A minor bust as rain never turned to snow in the eastern upstate and most of the North Carolina piedmont.
• 3 December 2000 snow: This event is better known for where it did not snow, mainly in the North Carolina piedmont.
• 18 November 2000 snow: The first snow of the 2000-2001 winter season is one of the earliest and heaviest November snow events on record.
• 20 November 2000 snow: A northwest flow snow event that didn't quite work out. What went wrong?
• October, 2000 drought: The driest October on record in the Greenville-Spartanburg metro area.
• Lightning trails down the trunks of trees: The result of a severe thunderstorm at GSP 28 July 2000.
• 3 April 2000 tornado in Pickens County east of Clemson.
• The 24-25 January 2000 heavy snow event over the Piedmont of the Carolinas.
• Two Winter Storms on 17-18 January and 22-23 January.

• Flood producing heavy rains in the North Carolina Mountains -- 26 November 1999.
• First snow of the 1999-2000 winter season -- 3 November 1999.
• Classic supercell thunderstorm hits Spartanburg -- 20 August 1999.
• All time record high tied at GSP airport -- 31 July 1999.
• 6 May 1999 Asheville tornado.

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