Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 48, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

June 16, 2003Mecklenburg County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this flash flood warning at Jun 16, 2003, 6:15 PM EDT for Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. It was in force for 2 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: Jun 16, 2003, 6:15 PM EDT (22:15 UTC)
Expired: Jun 16, 2003, 8:15 PM EDT
In force: 2 hr
Issued by: NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area: Whole counties

County Mecklenburg County, NC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 133 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:16 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, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 125 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: 541 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 499 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 41 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 105 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WGUS52 KGSP 162218
FFWGSP
NCC119-170015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
615 PM EDT MON JUN 16 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  MECKLENBURG COUNTY IN THE PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 815 PM EDT

* AT 615 PM EDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A CLUSTER
  OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVING SOUTH ACROSS MECKLENBURG COUNTY ALONG
  INTERSTATE 77. RADAR INDICATES THAT AROUND 1 INCH OF RAIN HAS
  FALLEN OVER NORTHERN MECKLENBURG COUNTY FROM DAVIDSON TO CROFT. AN
  ADDITIONAL INCH OR TWO IS VERY LIKELY TO AFFECT ENTIRE
  COUNTY...INCLUDING THE CHARLOTTE METRO AREA THROUGH 8 PM.

* SIGNIFICANT URBAN FLOODING WILL LIKELY DEVELOP IN THE CHARLOTTE
  METRO AREA. ADDITIONALLY...STREAMS AND CREEKS WILL LIKELY FLOOD
  THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY. DANGEROUS STANDING WATER WILL DEVELOP IN
  LOW SPOTS IN AREA ROADWAYS.

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

1 follow-up statement

000 
WGUS72 KGSP 162321
FFSGSP
NCC119-170015-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
720 PM EDT MON JUN 16 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 815 PM EDT FOR MECKLENBURG
COUNTY...

DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR CONTINUES TO INDICATE RAINFALL RATES OF UP TO 
ONE INCH PER HOUR...AS THE STORMS MOVE SLOWLY SOUTHEAST.

CREEKS AND RIVERS ACROSS MECKLENBURG COUNTY ARE RUNNING HIGH...AND 
SOME ARE OUT OF THEIR BANKS. IN CHARLOTTE...A CAR WAS WASHED INTO 
BRIER CREEK NEAR MONROE ROAD. OTHER CREEKS AND RIVERS ARE LIKELY TO 
COME OUT OF THEIR BANKS BEFORE RECEDING LATER THIS EVENING.

DURING HEAVY RAIN EVENTS...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 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.

$$
RB

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 16, 3:20 PM EDT, 2 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 16, 3:20 PM EDT, 2 hours 55 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
320 PM EDT MON JUN 16 2003

SURFACE FRONT HAS PUSHED INTO THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF THE FORECAST
AREA THIS AFTERNOON. LOW CLOUDS HAVE BEEN VERY SLOW TO ERODE IN THE
NC PIEDMONT TODAY...KEEPING THE AREA MORE STABLE THAN SC/GA AND THE
WRN MOUNTAINS. CONVECTION HAS DEVELOPED IN THE MORE UNSTABLE AREAS
AND THIS SHOULD STEADILY SPREAD EASTWARD ACROSS THE AREA THIS
EVENING...WITH THE STALLING SFC BOUNDARY REMAINING A FOCUS FOR
CONVECTION OVERNIGHT. PER COORDINATION WITH ADJACENT OFFICES...WILL
MAINTAIN THE EXISTING FLOOD WATCH FOR MUCH OF NORTH CAROLINA
TONIGHT. WILL LEAVE IT TO THE MID SHIFT TO ASSESS THE NEED FOR
EXTENSION INTO TUESDAY. ISOLATED FLOODING PROBLEMS COULD DEVELOP
OUTSIDE THE WATCH AREA FARTHER SW...BUT DEGREE OF TRAINING AWAY FROM
THE SURFACE BOUNDARY WILL BE VERY HARD TO ASSESS AND IS PROBABLY NOT
WORTH A WATCH AT PRESENT.

SFC BOUNDARY IS FORECAST TO REMAIN OVER THE NE THIRD OF THE FORECAST
AREA THROUGH TOMORROW WITH THE MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT THAT THE
BOUNDARY SLOWLY LIFTS BACK NORTH THROUGH WEDNESDAY. WILL GENERALLY
GO SLIGHTLY LOWER THAN GUIDANCE ON MAXES AND KEEP A SMALL DIURNAL
TEMP RANGE. DEEPER MOISTURE SHOWS UP IN TIME HEIGHTS AGAIN WED WITH
DEEP SW FLOW BUT LESS TRIGGERING AROUND. WILL OPT FOR SOLID CHC POPS
WED AFTN.

STRONG COLD FRONT APPROACHES FROM THE NORTHWEST ON THU WITH HIGHEST
EXTENDED RANGE POPS FEATURED FOR THU NIGHT. MODEL DISCREPANCIES THEN
BEGIN TO SHOW UP. THE GFS HAS BEEN FAIRLY CONSISTENT THE PAST THREE
RUNS WITH HANGING UP THE FRONT ACROSS THE SRN EDGE OF AREA WITH
RETURN FLOW MOISTURE BY SAT. GFS ALSO FEATURES TROUGH AXIS TO THE
WEST OVER THE MS VALLEY. WILL LEAN TOWARD ECM SOLUTION OF PLAINS
RIDGING AND MUCH LATER RETURN OF A WEAKER FRONT FOR LATE WEEKEND AND
RETURN TO DIURNAL AFTN CONVECTION.

FCSTID =   33
GSP   69  82  69  82 /  70  60  60  50
AND   69  84  69  83 /  60  60  60  50
CLT   69  81  69  82 /  70  70  70  50
HKY   67  77  67  79 /  80  70  70  50
AVL   65  77  64  78 /  70  70  70  50

.GSP...
GA...NONE.
NC...FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONES NCZ033>037...NCZ048>050...
NCZ053>057...NCZ065>072...NCZ082.
SC...NONE.

HG

Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 16, 6:22 AM EDT, 11 hours 53 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
622 AM EDT MON JUN 16 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT
AS IT MOVES SOUTH ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING. THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS.
ALONG AND A LITTLE BEHIND THE FRONT...THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL TEND TO
REFORM OVER THE SAME AREAS. THIS WILL RESULT IN LOCALIZED VERY HEAVY
RAIN ACROSS WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

MORE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE TUESDAY AND
WEDNESDAY. ON TUESDAY THE THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE HEAVY RAIN...WITH
A BETTER CHANCE OF DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL ON WEDNESDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT TO
REPORT SEVERE WEATHER AS WELL AS TO MONITOR STREAM LEVELS AND REPORT
RAINFALL TOTALS.

MCAVOY

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 16, 2:04 PM EDT, 4 hours 11 minutes before

NCZ053-065-161900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
204 PM EDT MON JUN 16 2003

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATES SIGNIFICANT THUNDERSTORMS
MOVING ACROSS BUNCOMBE AND HENDERSON COUNTIES IN NORTH CAROLINA.

BUNCOMBE COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT HAS REPORTED MARBLE SIZED
HAIL WITH THE STORMS IN THE AREA.  STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HEAVY RAIN
AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING ALSO CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS AS
THEY MOVE THROUGH THE AREA DURING THE NEXT HOUR.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR THE MEDIA FOR THE LATEST
INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.

DICARLO

Local storm report, Jun 16, 5:10 PM EDT, 1 hour 5 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
510 PM EDT MON JUN 16 2003

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

455 PM     2 NE ST STEPHENS          NC   FLASH FLOOD
06/16/03   CATAWBA                        COUNTY EOC REPORTED WATER
                                          COVERING SPRINGS ROAD AND
                                          SAINT PETERS CHURCH ROAD
                                          IMPEDING TRAFFIC.

LAMB

Local storm report, Jun 16, 5:23 PM EDT, 52 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
523 PM EDT MON JUN 16 2003

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

515 PM     5 W STATESVILLE           NC   FLASH FLOOD
06/16/03   IREDELL                        COUNTY COMMS REPORTED
                                          FLOODING ON HIGHWAYS 70
                                          AND 90... AND ON BRISTOL
                                          ROAD IN THE WESTERN PART
                                          OF THE COUNTY... IMPEDING
                                          TRAFFIC.

508 PM     3 NNE ST STEPHENS         NC   WIND DAMAGE
06/16/03   CATAWBA                        COUNTY COMMS REPORTED
                                          MULTIPLE TREES DOWN AND
                                          PROPERTY DAMAGE NEAR LAKE
                                          HICKORY.

LAMB

Local storm report, Jun 16, 5:42 PM EDT, 33 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
542 PM EDT MON JUN 16 2003

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

455 PM     2 E BETHLEHEM             NC   WIND DAMAGE
06/16/03   ALEXANDER                      SHINGLES OFF
                                          ROOFS...TREES AND
                                          PWERLINES DOWN...REPORTED
                                          BY EMERGENCY MANAGER.

RB

Local storm report, Jun 16, 5:49 PM EDT, 26 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
549 PM EDT MON JUN 16 2003

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

542 PM     MOORESVILLE               NC   .75 INCH HAIL
06/16/03   IREDELL                        HAM OPERATOR REPORTED
                                          DIME SIZE HAIL AND WIND
                                          GUSTS ABOVE 50 MPH AT
                                          INTERSTATE 77 AND HWY
                                          21... NEAR MOORESVILLE.

LAMB

Local storm report, Jun 16, 6:01 PM EDT, 14 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
601 PM EDT MON JUN 16 2003

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

525 PM     2 W MORGANTON             NC   FLASH FLOOD
06/16/03   BURKE                          COUNTY EOC REPORTED AN
                                          EXIT RAMP ON I-40 CLOSED
                                          TEMPORARILY DUE TO
                                          FLOODING.

LAMB

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 15, 10:52 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	GSP	Burke	3 hr
Jun 15, 11:25 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	GSP	Cleveland	2 hr
Jun 15, 11:33 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	GSP	McDowell	2 hr
Jun 16, 4:35 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	GSP	Alexander	115 min
Jun 16, 4:43 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Alexander, Catawba	17 min
Jun 16, 4:44 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	GSP	Iredell	106 min
Jun 16, 4:54 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	GSP	Catawba	96 min
Jun 16, 5:09 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	GSP	Burke, Caldwell	2 hr
Jun 16, 5:18 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	GSP	Rowan	117 min
Jun 16, 5:20 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Iredell	10 min
Jun 16, 5:29 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Iredell, Rowan	31 min
Jun 16, 5:39 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	GSP	Lincoln	2 hr
Jun 16, 5:45 PM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GSP	Cabarrus	30 min
Jun 16, 5:47 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	GSP	Cabarrus	118 min
Jun 16, 6:05 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	GSP	Davie	115 min
Jun 16, 6:55 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	GSP	Avery	2 hr
Jun 16, 7:08 PM EDT	Flash Flood Warning	GSP	Iredell, Rowan	112 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.