Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003
Flash Flood Warning 120, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this flash flood warning at Aug 16, 2003, 9:32 AM EDT for Rowan 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 outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Aug 16, 2003, 9:32 AM EDT (13:32 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 16, 2003, 12:30 PM EDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Rowan County, NC
The radar
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 155 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:35 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.
Did it verify
Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this flash flood warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.
Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.
The nearest sounding before it
Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), launched 12:00Z, 1.5 hours before the alert went out and 65 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1094 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -41 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 880 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 2 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -34 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -33 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WGUS52 KGSP 161333 FFWGSP NCC159-161630- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 932 AM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR... EASTERN ROWAN COUNTY IN THE PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA * UNTIL 1230 PM EDT * AT 920 AM EDT...A SPOTTER REPORTED FLASH FLOODING AROUND THE GRANITE QUARRY AREA IN ROWAN COUNTY. SOME FLOODING WAS ALSO REPORTED AROUND ROCKWELL. RADAR SHOWED HEAVY RAIN IN A THUNDERSTORM REDEVELOPING FROM EAST SPENCER TOWARD GRANITE QUARRY. * SEVERE URBAN FLASH FLOODING WILL BECOME WORSE THIS MORNING. ADDITIONAL SMALL STREAMS WILL FLOOD. EXCESSIVE RUNOFF FROM THIS STORM WILL CAUSE FLASH FLOODING OF SMALL CREEKS AND STREAMS...HIGHWAYS AND UNDERPASSES. ADDITIONALLY...COUNTRY ROADS AND FARMLANDS ALONG THE BANKS OF CREEKS AND STREAMS AND OTHER LOW LYING AREAS ARE SUBJECT TO FLASH FLOODING. 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. LAT...LON 3571 8029 3551 8022 3550 8052 3575 8050 $$ JONES
2 follow-up statements
000 WGUS72 KGSP 161520 FFSGSP NCC159-161645- FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 1120 AM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003 ...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 1230 PM EDT FOR EASTERN ROWAN COUNTY... AT 1115 AM EDT...RADAR SHOWED THE HEAVY RAIN IN THUNDERSTORMS HAD MOVED OFF TO THE EAST AND SOUTH OF THE COUNTY. HOWEVER...SOME HIGH WATER AND FLOODING CONTINUED...GENERALLY IN THE AREA BOUNDED BY EAST SPENCER...TO GRANITE FALLS...TO ROCKWELL...BACK TO EAST SPENCER. THE WATER SHOULD CONTINUE TO GRADUALLY RECEDE...UNLESS ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT OCCURS OVER THE AREA. RADAR ESTIMATED 4 TO 6 INCHES OF RAIN FELL OVER A SMALL PART OF THE WARNED AREA...WITH 2 TO 4 INCHES OVER A LARGER SECTION. DO NOT BECOME A FATALITY DO NOT CROSS FLOODED ROADS...THE ROAD COULD BE WASHED OUT FROM THE FLOW OF THE WATER...AND YOUR CAR COULD BE SWEPT AWAY BY THE SWIFTLY MOVING WATER. $$ JONES
000 WGUS72 KGSP 161631 FFSGSP NCC159-161645- FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 1231 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003 ...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING WHICH WAS IN EFFECT FOR EASTERN ROWAN COUNTY HAS EXPIRED... THE HEAVY RAIN HAS ENDED OVER THE WARNED AREA. STREAMS AND CREEKS IN THE WARNED AREA HAVE RECEDED OR WERE BEGINNING TO RECEDE...ENDING THE FLASH FLOOD THREAT. EVEN THOUGH STREAMS AND CREEKS WERE RECEDING... SOME ROADWAYS STILL MAY BE COVERED WITH WATER. MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO AVOID DRIVING THROUGH FLOODED ROADWAYS. $$ JONES
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 16, 6:30 AM EDT, 3 hours 2 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 16, 6:30 AM EDT, 3 hours 2 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 630 AM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003 NEW AREA OF CONVECTION HAS SINCE FIRED IN I-85 CORRIDOR BETWEEN SPA AND CLT. WILL AMEND ZONES TO BUMP POPS ACROSS SC PIEDMONT...AND NW PIEDMONT THIS MORNING WHERE EVEN LARGER CONVECTIVE PRECIP AREA WILL EDGE PAST JUST TO THE NE. .GSP... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. MOORE ...PREVIOUS DISCUSSION ISSUED AT 308 AM... DEALING WITH CONVECTION AT THIS EARLY HOUR...MAINLY ACROSS NC... DEVELOPING IN FAVORABLE ENVIRONMENT WITH REMAINING SURFACE BASED INSTABILITY ABOVE 1500 J/KG...UPPER DIVERGENCE AND VORT DROPPING DOWN FROM OH VALLEY. EXPECT THUNDERSTORMS TO CONTINUE INTO THE MORNING HOURS AS THIS SHORT WAVE DROPS DOWN ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS. THERE IS SOME QUESTION ABOUT THE EXTENT OF CONVECTIVE REDEVELOPMENT WITH DAYTIME HEATING AS THE MODELS SHOW THE SHORT WAVE OFF TO THE SOUTHEAST IN THE AFTERNOON. NEVERTHELESS...THERE SHOULD BE ENUF LOW LEVEL FORCING AND INSTABILITY TO FIRE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE FCST AREA IN THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. WILL CONTINUE TO UNDERCUT GUIDANCE POP WHICH SEEMS TOO HIGH ACROSS ALL BUT THE NORTH...WHERE IT MIGHT BE RIGHT FOR THE WRONG REASON. MODELS SHOW MORE POTENT SHORT WAVE ENERGY APPROACHING FROM THE NW BY LATE TONIGHT...THUS WILL KEEP CHANCE IN THE MOUNTAINS AND NRN ZONES ALL NIGHT IN CASE MORE CONVECTION CREEPS IN. AS THIS SHORT WAVE SWEEPS ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA SUNDAY...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS LOOKS TO BE A SAFE BET WITH PLENTY OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE POOLED NEAR A SURFACE BOUNDARY DROPPING SOUTHWARD. CONVECTION SHOULD TAPER OFF FROM THE NORTH IN THE EVENING IN THE WAKE OF THE UPPER WAVE. ON MONDAY AND MONDAY NIGHT...HAVE DECIDED TO REINTRODUCE A CHANCE OF PRECIP TO THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA LATE IN THE DAY AS WEAK UPSLOPE FLOW DEVELOPS ACROSS THE PIEDMONT AND FOOTHILLS. THE REST OF THE FORECAST OUT THROUGH THE MEDIUM RANGE WILL BE LARGELY UNCHANGED. FCSTID = 10 GSP 87 71 88 69 / 40 40 40 40 AND 88 71 88 70 / 40 40 40 40 CLT 87 71 88 69 / 40 40 40 40 HKY 85 69 87 68 / 40 40 40 40 AVL 83 65 84 64 / 40 40 40 40 MOORE
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 16, 6:10 AM EDT, 3 hours 22 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-161200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 610 AM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA... UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE REGION THROUGHOUT THE DAY AND EVENING. THERE IS A CHANCE THAT A FEW THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE LARGE HAIL OR DAMAGING WIND GUSTS FOR A BRIEF TIME. THERE IS ALSO THE POSSIBILITY THAT A FEW OF THE STORMS COULD PRODUCE ENOUGH RAIN TO CAUSE FLOODING OF URBAN AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS IN LOCATIONS THAT HAVE RECEIVED EXCESSIVE RAIN IN THE LAST FEW WEEKS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... ANOTHER ROUND OF SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED SUNDAY AND SUNDAY EVENING. THERE IS A SLIGHTLY BETTER CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER LATE IN THE DAY. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO EXPECTED MONDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED ON SUNDAY. MOORE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 16, 5:29 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Union | 46 min |
| Aug 16, 5:38 PM EDT | Flash Flood Warning | GSP | Union | 3 hr |
Nearby
Flash Flood Warnings in North Carolina, 2003Every 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.