Strong storms are heading to the Upstate, the National Weather Service says, and tornadoes could spin out of them.
The weather service has issued a Hazardous Weather Outlook for Anderson, Greenville and Spartanburg counties, among many others in South Carolina, North Carolina and Georgia, for Saturday into Sunday, March 15-16. According to the statement, “A powerful storm system will impact the region Saturday evening into Sunday bringing heavy rain and severe storms.”
Here’s what we know about the storm system and dangers it could bring.
Tornadoes possible in the Upstate
Christiaan Patterson, a meteorologist with the NWS based at GSP, detailed the storm threats.
“We are looking at some thunderstorms impacting the Greenville area Saturday into Sunday,” Patterson told the Greenville News Friday afternoon. “The impacts could be strong winds, large hail and tornadoes.
“We cannot rule out strong tornadoes in the area.”
Hazardous Weather Outlook
The statement by the weather service issued at 3:44 a.m. Friday coincides with Patterson’s outlook.
“The main hazards with any severe storms that develop are damaging wind gusts, tornadoes, and large hail,” the statement says. “A strong tornado cannot be ruled out. Additionally, locally heavy rainfall may result in isolated nuisance to minor flooding, especially across the southwest North Carolina mountains and the South Carolina and Georgia mountains. Gusty non-thunderstorm winds will develop Saturday into Sunday, with gusts from 35-50 mph across the North Carolina mountains and 25-35 mph gusts elsewhere.”
When will the storms begin?
The weather service’s detailed forecast indicates the storms will start in the early morning hours Sunday.
Saturday: Mostly cloudy, with a high near 77. Winds 8-13 mph in the morning and could gust as high as 22 mph.
Saturday night: Showers, with thunderstorms also possible after 2 a.m. Low around 62. Wind 13-17 mph, with gusts as high as 37 mph. Chance of precipitation is 100%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Sunday: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm, mainly before 3 p.m., then a chance of showers and thunderstorms after 3 p.m. High near 73. Wind around 18 mph, with gusts as high as 34 mph. Chance of precipitation is 90%. New rainfall amounts between a half and three quarters of an inch possible.
Sunday night: A chance of showers and thunderstorms before 10 p.m., then a slight chance of showers between 10 p.m.-2 a.m. Mostly clear, with a low around 45. Wind 7-9 mph with gusts as high as 18 mph. Chance of precipitation is 30%.
Monday: Sunny, with a high near 64.
Todd Runkle is the Carolinas Connect editor and also a trending news editor for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA TODAY Network. Reach him at trunkle@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: Tornadoes possible in Greenville, Upstate SC: Severe weather outlook
