Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 35, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

June 15, 2003Caldwell County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this flash flood warning at Jun 15, 2003, 2:54 PM EDT for Caldwell County, North Carolina. It was in force for 96 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
Jun 15, 2003, 2:54 PM EDT (18:54 UTC)
Expired
Jun 15, 2003, 4:30 PM EDT
In force
96 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Caldwell County, NC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 134 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:57 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, 6.9 hours before the alert went out and 149 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2003-06-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 268 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2003-06-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 25 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
268 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-23 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
600 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
25 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
39 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS52 KGSP 151859
FFWGSP
NCC027-152030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
254 PM EDT SUN JUN 15 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  NORTHEASTERN CALDWELL COUNTY IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 430 PM EDT

* AT 254 PM EDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SERIES
  OF THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING RAINFALL AT RATES UP TO 2 INCHES PER
  HOUR OVER NORTHEAST CALDWELL COUNTY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE
  MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH...WITH NEW THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING JUST TO
  THE WEST.

* AN ADDITIONAL 1 TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN IS POSSIBLE BEFORE THE
  THUNDERSTORMS MOVE EAST OF THE AREA. MOST LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE
  FLOODING ARE THE BUFFALO CREEK AND KINGS CREEK AREA. ROADS THAT
  MAY BE AFFECT ARE ROUTE 268 AND 18.

A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS IMMINENT OR OCCURRING.
IF YOU ARE IN THE WARNING AREA MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IMMEDIATELY.
RESIDENTS LIVING ALONG STREAMS AND CREEKS SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE
PRECAUTIONS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS
SWIFTLY FLOWING WATERS OR WATERS OF UNKNOWN DEPTH BY FOOT OR BY
AUTOMOBILE. EVEN MODERN SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES CANNOT BE SAFELY
DRIVEN THROUGH FLOOD WATERS.
$$
HG

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 Jun 15, 10:00 AM EDT, 4 hours 54 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 15, 10:00 AM EDT, 4 hours 54 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1000 AM EDT SUN JUN 15 2003

CURRENTLY A LARGE BATCH OF RAIN IS DRIFTING OVER EASTERN KY AND
WV...MOVING NE. UPPER ANALYSIS SHOWS VERY LITTLE IN THE WAY OF WIND
FIELDS...IN FACT...WIND DIRECTIONS ARE PARALLEL TO THE FRONT.
HOWEVER...THE GFS...RUC...AND ETA ARE SHOWING THE FRONT SLIPPING
SOUTH AND GENERATING QPF ALONG THE NORTHERN TIER OF THE FA THIS
AFTERNOON. WITH TROPICAL AIR IN PLACE AND CAPES AGAIN RUNNING >1500
J/KG ATMOSPHERE WILL EASILY SUPPORT SH/TS. WITH PWS CALCULATED TO
BE OVER 1.8 @ GSO AND WITH STM MOTION AROUND 11KTS...HEAVY RAIN
WILL AGAIN POSE A CONCERN. WILL KEEP LIKELY POPS TO THE NORTH WHERE
COVERAGE WILL BE BEST AS S/W ARE EVIDENT IN THE WV AND POSSIBLE
PRESSING FRONT. WILL DROP POPS BACK TO HIGH CHC OVER THE WESTERN TIP
OF NC AD WILL MAKE SOME PRECIP TIMING CHANGES. WILL ONLY MAKE MINOR
ADJUSTMENTS TO THE T/TD GRID AND WILL USE LATEST WIND DATA.

FCSTID =   16
GSP   85  68  82  67 /  40  40  40  60
AND   86  69  81  68 /  40  40  40  60
CLT   85  68  82  66 /  40  50  60  60
HKY   81  67  77  62 /  60  60  60  60
AVL   80  64  79  63 /  60  60  50  60

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

NED
Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 15, 6:00 AM EDT, 8 hours 54 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-151145-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
600 AM EDT SUN JUN 15 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE REGION
EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. THE ATMOSPHERE OVER THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND
NORTHEAST GEORGIA REMAINS VERY MOIST...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WILL
BE POSSIBLE. A WEAK SURFACE TROUGH MAY DEVELOP IN FOOTHILLS AND
PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA THIS AFTERNOON. IF THIS HAPPENS...THE
THREAT OF EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL INCREASE. OUR OFFICE WILL ISSUE A
SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK CAESPSGSP LATER TODAY IF IT APPEARS THAT
THIS HEAVY RAIN THREAT WILL DEVELOP.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SLOWLY SOUTH...CROSSING THE REGION MONDAY AND
TUESDAY. AS THE FRONT INTERACTS WITH A VERY MOIST ATMOSPHERE...
NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER THE
REGION MONDAY AND TUESDAY. LOCALLY EXCESSIVE RAINFALL WILL BE
POSSIBLE WITH THE FRONT. SEE OUR PRODUCT CAEESFGSP FOR ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION. MORE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED WEDNESDAY
AND THURSDAY. SOME OF THE STORMS...PARTICULARLY ON WEDNESDAY...MAY
BE SEVERE.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY.

MCAVOY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 15, 2:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPBuncombe61 min
Jun 15, 2:23 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCaldwell37 min
Jun 15, 3:34 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPRutherford41 min
Jun 15, 4:14 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPCleveland61 min
Jun 15, 4:30 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPCaldwell2 hr
Jun 15, 4:53 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPGaston52 min
Jun 15, 5:10 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGSPRowan50 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.