Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 104, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

August 5, 2003Henderson County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this flash flood warning at Aug 5, 2003, 4:07 PM EDT for Henderson County, North Carolina. It was in force for 3 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Aug 5, 2003, 4:07 PM EDT (20:07 UTC)
Expired: Aug 5, 2003, 7:00 PM EDT
In force: 3 hr
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Henderson County, NC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 56 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:09 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 247 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.

Mixed-layer CAPE: 249 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -125 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 963 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 59 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
WGUS52 KGSP 052007
FFWGSP
NCC089-052300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
407 PM EDT TUE AUG 5 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  HENDERSON COUNTY IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 700 PM EDT

* AT 405 PM EDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A CLUSTER OF
  SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS STRETCHING FROM HENDERSONVILLE...WEST
  TO ETOWAH...AND NORTHWEST TO JUST SOUTH OF MILLS RIVER. RADAR      
  ESTIMATED AS MUCH AS 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN HAD FALLEN FROM         
  THE WESTERN LIMITS OF HENDERSONVILLE...NORTHWEST TO VALLEY HILL 
  AND HORSE SHOE. RADAR TRENDS SUGGESTED THE STORMS WERE MAKING SLOW 
  PROGRESS TO THE SOUTH...BUT WERE ALSO CONTINUING TO DEVELOP TO THE 
  NORTH AND WEST. MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL CAN BE EXPECTED OVER 
  CENTRAL...AND PERHAPS NORTHERN...HENDERSON COUNTY THROUGH EARLY 
  EVENING.

* FLOODING OF LOW LYING...AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS...CAN BE EXPECTED  
  DURING THE VALID TIME OF THIS WARNING. SHALLOW STREAMS...CREEKS    
  AND RIVERS WILL EXPERIENCE SIGNIFICANT RISES. SOME 
  STREAMS...ESPECIALLY WASH...MUD AND BRITTAIN CREEKS WILL LIKELY 
  APPROACH BANKFULL...AND MAY COME OUT OF THEIR BANKS. URBAN FLOODING
  IS LIKELY IN HENDERSONVILLE.

DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE 
ROADWAY. THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS 
SAFELY. VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY. 
MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND. EVEN MODERN SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES CANNOT BE 
SAFELY DRIVEN THROUGH FLOOD WATERS.

TO REPORT FLOODING HAVE THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY RELAY YOUR
REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN
GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG.

$$
BURRUS

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGUS72 KGSP 052100
FFSGSP
NCC089-052245-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
450 PM EDT TUE AUG 5 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 700 PM EDT FOR HENDERSON
COUNTY...

HEAVY RAIN CONTINUES TO FALL ACROSS HENDERSON COUNTY...ESPECIALLY IN 
AND AROUND THE CITY OF HENDERSONVILLE. REPORTS FROM COUNTY OFFICIALS 
INDICATED DANGEROUS URBAN FLOODING HAS OCCURRED. MANY ROADWAYS AROUND 
THE CITY OF HENDERSONVILLE HAVE BEEN CLOSED DUE TO HIGH WATER AND 
SOME ROADS ARE WASHED OUT. NUMEROUS AUTOMOBILE ACCIDENTS HAVE BE 
BLAMED ON SLICK AND FLOODED OUT ROADWAYS. IN ADDITION SMALL CREEKS 
HAVE RISEN OUT OF THEIR BANKS...WITH REPORTS OF FLASH FLOODING NEAR 
SHEPARD STREET AND SPARTANBURG HIGHWAY.      

SEVERE URBAN FLOODING CAN OCCUR IN AREAS SUCH AS  UNDERPASSES...AND 
LOW AREAS WHERE WATER TENDS TO COLLECT. CHILDREN SHOULD BE KEPT AWAY 
FROM SMALL STREAMS AND STORM DRAINS.

DO NOT BECOME A FATALITY DO NOT CROSS FLOODED ROADS...THE ROAD COULD
BE WASHED OUT FROM THE FLOW OF THE WATER...AND YOUR CAR COULD BE
SWEPT AWAY BY THE SWIFTLY MOVING WATER.

$$

KRENTZ

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, 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 this flash flood warning went out at Aug 5, 2:56 PM EDT, 1 hour 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 5, 2:56 PM EDT, 1 hour 11 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
256 PM EDT TUE AUG 5 2003

CONVECTION ASSOCIATED WITH UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE DEVELOPING IN W AND
SPREADING E. ALTHOUGH SHORTWAVE EXPECTED TO MOVE THROUGH AREA RATHER
QUICKLY...WILL NEED TO CARRY HIGH POPS COINCIDENT WITH SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCHES EARLY THIS EVENING.

UPPER LEVEL TROUGH AXIS TO LINGER OVER E THIS PACKAGE...WITH
ABUNDANT LOW LEVEL MOISTURE REMAINING ALONG AND E OF MOUNTAINS. WEAK
BOUNDARY STILL HINTED AT BY MODELS...MOVING INTO WED AND REMAINING
THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK. WEAK UPPER IMPULSES WILL PROVOKE SCATTERED
CONVECTION EACH AFTERNOON AND EVENING...AND WITH NO REAL CHANGE IN
AIR MASS...POPS AND TEMPERATURES NEAR PERSISTENCE THROUGH DAY 7.

FCSTID =    7
GSP   68  86  69  86 /  60  40  40  40
AND   69  88  69  88 /  60  40  40  40
CLT   68  87  69  87 /  60  40  40  40
HKY   65  85  67  84 /  60  40  40  40
AVL   62  82  64  81 /  60  40  40  40

.GSP...
GA...NONE.
NC...NONE.
SC...NONE.

O7

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 5, 5:05 AM EDT, 11 hours 2 minutes before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-051100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
505 AM EDT TUE AUG 5 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA...
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OVER THE WESTERN CAROLINAS
AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA TODAY. A FEW OF THESE STORMS COULD REACH
SEVERE LEVELS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. LOCALIZED HEAVY RAINFALL
CAN ALSO BE ANTICIPATED. SEE THE LATEST SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
(CAESPSGSP) FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE PERIOD...MAINLY
IN THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. WITH THE GROUND NEARLY SATURATED
RAINFALL WILL RUNOFF INTO NEARBY STREAMS AND CREEKS. IF THESE HEAVY
RAIN PRODUCING THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP THROUGHOUT THE WEEK AS
EXPECTED...FLOODING MAY RESULT. SEE THE LATEST FLOOD POTENTIAL
OUTLOOK (ESFGSP) FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

NED

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 5, 10:50 AM EDT, 5 hours 17 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
1050 AM EDT TUE AUG 05 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

835 PM     MILLS RIVER               NC   WIND DAMAGE
08/04/03   HENDERSON                      TREE DOWN ON NORTH MILLS
                                          RIVER RD AND ANOTHER ON
                                          SOUTH MILLS RIVER RD IN
                                          YARD.  CORN BLOWN FLAT
                                          AND SMALL HAIL WITH
                                          STORM.

950 PM     DUNCAN                    SC   .75 INCH HAIL
08/04/03   SPARTANBURG                    SPOTTER REPORTED DIME
                                          SIZE HAIL 2 NORTH OF
                                          DUNCAN.

TJB

Local storm report, Aug 5, 11:02 AM EDT, 5 hours 5 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
1102 AM EDT TUE AUG 05 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

830 PM     MILLS RIVER               NC   FLASH FLOOD
08/04/03   HENDERSON                      COOP OBSERVER REPORTED
                                          CREEK OVERFLOWED ACROSS N
                                          MILLS RIVER ROAD NEAR HIS
                                          HOME.   RAINFALL 3.90
                                          INCHES MEASURED IN HIS
                                          GAGE IN 1 HR 45 MIN.

TJB

Local storm report, Aug 5, 1:20 PM EDT, 2 hours 47 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
120 PM EDT TUE AUG 05 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1000 PM    GREER                     SC   WIND DAMAGE
08/04/03   GREENVILLE                     GREER PUBLIC WORKS
                                          REPORTED NUMEROUS TREES
                                          AND POWERLINES DOWNED ON
                                          VICTOR MILLS AND OLD
                                          WOODRUFF ROADS...CAUSING
                                          CONSIDERABLE POWER
                                          OUTAGES.

LAMB

Local storm report, Aug 5, 3:49 PM EDT, 18 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
349 PM EDT TUE AUG 05 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

346 PM     14 NW GASTONIA            NC   1.00 INCH HAIL
08/05/03   GASTON                         HAM RADIO OPERATOR
                                          REPORTED QUARTER-SIZED
                                          HAIL IN CHERRYVILLE.

BURRUS

The office that day

Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 4, 8:00 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Henderson	75 min
Aug 4, 8:06 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	GSP	Buncombe, Henderson	3 hr
Aug 4, 8:13 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Polk, Rutherford	77 min
Aug 4, 8:37 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	GSP	Rutherford	3 hr
Aug 4, 9:22 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	GSP	Union	3 hr
Aug 5, 3:44 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Gaston, Lincoln	61 min
Aug 5, 4:56 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Gaston	49 min
Aug 5, 5:15 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Mecklenburg	60 min
Aug 5, 5:23 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Iredell	52 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in North Carolina, 2003 Every flash flood warning in 2003

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.