Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003
Flash Flood Warning 15, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this flash flood warning at Apr 30, 2003, 4:58 PM EDT for Yancey 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
- Apr 30, 2003, 4:58 PM EDT (20:58 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 30, 2003, 8:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
- Area
- Whole counties
County Yancey County, NC
The radar
The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 103 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:59 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, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 218 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
- 8 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -241 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1558 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 22 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 41 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 63 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 302059 FFWGSP NCC199-010000- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED FLASH FLOOD WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 458 PM EDT WED APR 30 2003 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A * FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR... YANCEY COUNTY IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA * UNTIL 800 PM EDT * AT 449 PM EDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST EAST OF CELO IN SOUTHERN YANCEY COUNTY. THIS STORM HAS BEEN CREEPING SLOWLY EASTWARD THIS AFTERNOON...DUMPING A LOT OF RAIN AND HAIL ACROSS SOUTHERN YANCEY COUNTY AS IT DOES SO. RADAR ESTIMATES THAT AS MUCH AS 4 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN BETWEEN CELO AND BUSICK. RADAR ALSO SHOWED SCATTERED STORMS MOVING TOWARD THE REGION EVEN AS THE MAIN SEVERE STORM DRIFTS AWAY. RAINFALL OF THE INTENSITY MEASURED WITH THIS STORM WILL LIKELY LEAD TO RAPID RISES ON STREAMS AND CREEKS IN SOUTHERN YANCEY COUNTY...ESPECIALLY THE SOUTH TOE RIVER IN...AROUND AND DOWNSTREAM OF CELO...AS WELL AS THE STILL ROCK AND BIG LOST COVE CREEKS NEAR AND AROUND BUSICK. SOME OF THESE STREAMS MAY OVERFLOW THEIR BANKS...PERHAPS FLOODING ROADS. 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. $$ BURRUS
3 follow-up statements
000 WGUS72 KGSP 302153 FFSGSP NCC199-010000- FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 547 PM EDT WED APR 30 2003 ...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 800 PM EDT FOR YANCEY COUNTY... AT 545 PM...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING OVER SOUTHERN YANCEY COUNTY. THE STORMS STRETCHED ALL THE WAY FROM BURNSVILLE...THROUGH MOUNT MITCHELL STATE PARK...TO CELO AND BUSICK...AND THE BORDER WITH MCDOWELL COUNTY. THE HEAVIEST RAIN WAS BETWEEN THE PARK AND BURNSVILLE. THE STORMS WERE MOVING ONLY VERY SLOWLY TO THE NORTH AND EAST. RADAR ESTIMATES OF RAINFALL IN THE AREA HAVE RISEN TO BETWEEN 4 AND 6 INCHES...VERY CLOSE TO THE PARK AND ALMOST COMPLETELY WITHIN THE CONFINES OF THE SOUTH TOE RIVER BASIN. SEVERAL CAMPGROUNDS COULD BECOME AFFECTED BY RAPID RISES ON THIS RIVER...ESPECIALLY THE BRIAR BOTTOM AND BLACK MOUNTAIN CAMPGROUNDS. HIGHWAY 80 MAY BE IMAPCTED BY SOME FLOOD WATER LATER. NO FLOODING HAD YET BEEN REPORTED TO COUNTY OFFICIALS. HOWEVER...THE FLOOD WARNING WILL CONTINUE THROUGH 8 PM. DO NOT BECOME A FATALITY DO NOT CROSS FLOODED ROADS...THE ROAD COULD BE WASHED OUT FROM THE FLOW OF THE WATER...AND YOUR CAR COULD BE SWEPT AWAY BY THE SWIFTLY MOVING WATER. PEOPLE IN THE WARNED AREA...ESPECIALLY CAMPERS...SHOULD MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND NOW...DO NOT DELAY. WATER MAY RISE TOO QUICKLY FOR YOU TO GET OUT OF DANGER LATER. $$ BURRUS
000 WGUS72 KGSP 302321 FFSGSP NCC199-010000- FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 718 PM EDT WED APR 30 2003 ...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 800 PM EDT FOR YANCEY COUNTY... AT 715 PM...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SLOWLY WEAKENING AS THEY DRIFTED TO THE NORTH AND EAST OVER SOUTHERN YANCEY COUNTY. RADAR ESTIMATES THAT AS MUCH AS 5 TO 7 INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN ACROSS THE FLOOD WARNING AREA...IN AN AREA TRIANGLED BY MOUNT MITCHELL STATE PARK...CELO AND BUSICK. COUNTY OFFICIALS REPORT A SIGNIFICANT RISE ON THE SOUTH TOE RIVER SINCE MID AFTERNOON...BUT WAS STILL WELL WITHIN BANKS. AN AUTOMATED RIVER GAGE AT CELO DEMONSTRATED AN UPWARD SPIKE AS THE FIRST OF THE HEAVY RAIN AND ASSOCIATED RUNOFF REACHED THE GAGING LOCATION. SOME CAMPGROUNDS MAY BEGIN TO BE AFFECTED BY RUNOFF ON SOME OF THE NARROWER STREAMS AND CREEKS IN THE REGION. THE FLOOD WARNING WILL CONTINUE UNTIL 8 PM...AND MAY NEED TO BE EXTENDED IF FLOOD REPORTS START COMING IN TO EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OR COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT. 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. $$ BURRUS
000 WGUS72 KGSP 010008 FFSGSP NCC199-010030- FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 807 PM EDT WED APR 30 2003 ...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING WHICH WAS IN EFFECT FOR YANCEY COUNTY HAS EXPIRED AS OF 800 PM EDT... AT 8 PM...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED MOST OF THE WARNING AREA FREE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...WHICH HAD WEAKENED AND DRIFTED TO THE NORTH AND EAST. A FEW ADDITIONAL SHOWERS...OR STORMS...COULD AFFECT THE REGION THROUGH THE REST OF THE EVENING...BUT ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE AS POTENT AS THOSE THAT OCCURRED EARLIER. RADAR ESTIMATES OF 5 TO 7 INCHES OF RAINFALL BLANKET THE WARNING AREA. AN OBSERVER IN CELO...TO THE NORTH AND EAST OF THE RAINFALL MAXIMUM AREA INDICATED BY RADAR...REPORTED 2.25 INCHES OF RAIN THIS AFTERNOON. AN AUTOMATED GAGE SOUTH OF THERE REPORTED 1.67 INCHES. THE SOUTH TOE RIVER BETWEEN BUSICK AND CELO IS DESCRIBED AS ELEVATED BY COUNTY OFFICIALS BUT IS NOT NEAR BANKFULL AND NO REPORTS OF FLOODING CAME IN TO EITHER LAW ENFORCEMENT OR THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. DO NOT BECOME A FATALITY DO NOT CROSS FLOODED ROADS...THE ROAD COULD BE WASHED OUT FROM THE FLOW OF THE WATER...AND YOUR CAR COULD BE SWEPT AWAY BY THE SWIFTLY MOVING WATER. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION. $$ BURRUS
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 Apr 30, 3:25 PM EDT, 1 hour 33 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 30, 3:25 PM EDT, 1 hour 33 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 325 PM EDT WED APR 30 2003 SH AND TS ARE ONGOING ACROSS THE SPINE OF THE APPALACHIANS AND ACROSS THE PIEDMONT OF NC. EXPECT THAT THE ACTIVITY WILL INCREASE IN COVERAGE FURTHER EAST AND WILL REMAIN INTO THE EVENING. SEVERE CHANCES STILL LOOK GOOD AS PARAMETERS REMAIN FAVORABLE...IN FACT...DEWPOINTS HAVE REMAINED HIGHER THAN EXPECTED RESULTING IN CAPES AROUND 3000 J/KG AT PEAK HEATING. WILL TREND POPS FROM LIKELY OVER THE NRN MTNS DOWN TO 30S EAST OF CLT. AFTER MIDNIGHT...WILL DECREASE POPS TO SCHC AND WILL ADD PATCHY FOG. FOG COULD BECOME DENSE IN SPOTS AS MIN WILL SURPASS CROSSOVER TEMPS. FORECAST CHANGES A BIT FOR THU AS MODELS HAVE ADOPTED THE COASTAL LOW OFF THE SE. WILL FOLLOW MAINLY THE ETA ON THIS FEATURE AS AGAIN THE GFS IS OVER DEVELOPING THE LOW. THE CIRCULATION AROUND THE LOW WILL ADVECT IN MORE STABLE AIR OVER THE NE CWA...BUT AREAS IN THE WEST WILL FEEL LITTLE DIFFERENCE. WILL GO SCHC OVER THE NRN PIEDMONT OF NC AND MAINTAIN CHC OVER THE REST OF THE CWA. WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE COASTAL SYSTEM AS THE MAIN LOW...THE COLD FRONT THAT WAS PROGGED FOR FRI HAS SLOWED. IN FACT...FRONT MAY STALL OVER THE CWA FOR SAT...WITH ETA HOLDING ONTO SOME CAPE. WILL DELAY ONSET OF PRECIP TO FRI AFTERNOON AND HOLD ONTO MENTION UNTIL MIDNIGHT. DUE TO THIS CHANGE WILL LEAN AGAINST ADDING POPS TO THE SAT PERIOD...BUT WILL INCREASE POPS TO SCHC TO TREND INTO THE DIRECTION OF MENTION. HIGH PRESSURE IS EXPECTED TO RIDGE DOWN AS IT MOVES PAST TO THE NORTH ON SUNDAY AND EARLY MONDAY. GUIDANCE IS FOLLOWED CLOSELY HERE. ONCE THE HIGH IS OFFSHORE MONDAY AFTERNOON AND A WEAK WARM FRONT LIFTS NORTH...MOISTURE SHOULD BEGIN TO RETURN. WILL INTRODUCE A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS FOR THE AFTERNOON. WITH THE MOISTENING RETURN FLOW...HAVE RAISED LOW TEMP MONDAY NIGHT BY A FEW DEGREES ACROSS SC/NE GA. BY TUESDAY...WE SHOULD BE SET UP FOR SCATTERED AFTERNOON AND EVENING CONVECTION WITH THE HIGH OFF THE SOUTHEAST COAST AND A SURFACE FRONT TO THE WEST. THE ONLY REAL CHANGE HERE IS TO KEEP A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS THROUGH WEDNESDAY MORNING BASED ON THE POSITION OF THE COLD FRONT DEPICTED BY HPC AT 12Z WEDNESDAY. FCSTID = 16 GSP 58 79 59 82 / 50 30 30 40 AND 59 80 59 83 / 50 30 30 40 CLT 57 81 59 82 / 40 30 30 40 HKY 58 78 58 79 / 50 20 20 40 AVL 56 75 55 78 / 50 30 30 40 .GSP... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. NED/MOORE
Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 30, 6:03 AM EDT, 10 hours 55 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-301200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 603 AM EDT WED APR 30 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA... UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAY ONE... A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE LATER TODAY. FOR FURTHER DETAILS...PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK...SPSGSP...ISSUED BY THIS OFFICE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... EXPECT A DAILY CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS BOTH THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Apr 30, 2:49 PM EDT, 2 hours 9 minutes before
NCZ036-037-057-301945- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 249 PM EDT WED APR 30 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NORTHWEST PIEDMONT... THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE NORTHWEST PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA THROUGH THE LATE AFTERNOON. THROUGH 4 PM...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE NORTH AT 10 TO 15 MPH ACROSS ROWAN COUNTY AND DAVIE COUNTY. SOME OF THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE MARBLE SIZED HAIL...WIND GUSTS OF 50 MPH...AND TORRENTIAL RAIN. SHOULD THESE STORMS DEVELOP ANY FURTHER...A WARNING MIGHT BE NEEDED. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION. MOORE
Local storm report, Apr 30, 4:21 PM EDT, 37 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
421 PM EDT WED APR 30 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
415 PM MOUNT MITCHELL SC 1.00 INCH HAIL
04/30/03 YANCEY QUARTER SIZE HAIL
COVERING GROUND.
KRENTZLocal storm report, Apr 30, 4:40 PM EDT, 18 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
440 PM EDT WED APR 30 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
335 PM 7 E MOCKSVILLE NC 1.00 INCH HAIL
04/30/03 DAVIE LETTER CARRIERS WITH THE
POSTAL SERVICE REPORTED
SEVERAL INSTANCES OF HAIL
BETWEEN DIME AND QUARTER
SIZE BETWEEN MOCKSVILLE
AND FORK CHURCH.
BURRUSLocal storm report, Apr 30, 4:53 PM EDT, 5 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
453 PM EDT WED APR 30 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
452 PM 5 NE SYLVA NC .75 INCH HAIL
04/30/03 JACKSON SKYWARN SPOTTER REPORTS
DIME SIZE HAIL.
HGThe office that day
Everything else NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 30, 3:03 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Davie | 57 min |
| Apr 30, 3:04 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Madison | 41 min |
| Apr 30, 4:15 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Yancey | 45 min |
| Apr 30, 4:33 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Jackson | 57 min |
| Apr 30, 6:02 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Yancey | 43 min |
| Apr 30, 7:12 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GSP | Iredell | 33 min |
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.