Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 21, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

May 6, 20035 counties in North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this flash flood warning at May 6, 2003, 10:02 AM EDT for 5 counties in North Carolina. It was in force for 118 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 6, 2003, 10:02 AM EDT (14:02 UTC)
Expired
May 6, 2003, 12:00 PM EDT
In force
118 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

Counties Graham County, NC, Haywood County, NC, Jackson County, NC, Macon County, NC, Swain County, NC

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 89 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:01 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

Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA (KFFC), launched 12:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 245 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2003-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 386 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2003-05-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 191 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
386 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-36 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
521 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
64 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
191 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
264 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS52 KGSP 061405
FFWGSP
NCC075-087-099-113-173-061600-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1002 AM EDT TUE MAY 6 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS CONTINUED 
THE

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  HAYWOOD COUNTY IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
  SWAIN COUNTY IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
  GRAHAM COUNTY IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
  MACON COUNTY IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA
  JACKSON COUNTY IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL NOON EDT

* AT 950 AM EDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED MODERATE 
RAIN COVERING MUCH OF THE WARNING AREA. A BAND OF HEAVY RAIN WILL 
SPREAD ACROSS THE SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS BETWEEN 10 AND 11 
AM...EXACERBATING THE FLOODING SITUATION.

* COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS CENTERS REPORT SEVERAL STREAMS ARE OUT OF 
THEIR BANKS IN THE SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS. AS RAINFALL RATES
INCREASE... THE FLOODING IS EXPECTED TO BECOME WORSE AND THE DANGER 
OF FLASH FLOODING...MUDSLIDES...AND ROCKSLIDES...WILL INCREASE 
QUICKLY LATE THIS MORNING. FOR SOME AREAS...THIS WILL BECOME A VERY 
SERIOUS AND LIFE THREATENING FLASH FLOOD SITUATION.

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.

$$
MCAVOY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 5, 10:40 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPMacon50 min
May 5, 11:19 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPJackson41 min
May 6, 6:05 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPGraham, Haywood, Jackson, Macon, Swain4 hr
May 6, 8:00 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPBuncombe, Madison4 hr
May 6, 12:00 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPBuncombe, Graham, Haywood, Henderson, Jackson, Macon and 3 more4 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.