Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 59, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

July 3, 2003Macon County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this flash flood warning at Jul 3, 2003, 7:06 PM EDT for Macon County, North Carolina. It was in force for 114 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
Jul 3, 2003, 7:06 PM EDT (23:06 UTC)
Expired
Jul 3, 2003, 9:00 PM EDT
In force
114 min
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Macon County, NC

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 113 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:10 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, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 221 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 2003-07-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 333 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, Peachtre/Fal Fld, GA at 12:00Z on 2003-07-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 9 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
333 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-39 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
926 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
9 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
18 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 032306
FFWGSP
NCC113-040100-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
706 PM EDT THU JUL 3 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN MACON COUNTY IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 900 PM EDT

* AT 647 PM EDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY       
  HEAVY RAIN OCCURRING IN TWO AREAS OF SOUTHERN MACON COUNTY...ONE   
  IN AREAS AROUND UNION AND OTTO...AND ANOTHER IN AREAS SOUTH AND    
  WEST OF HIGHLANDS. SLOW MOVING OR STATIONARY SHOWERS AND STORMS    
  WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE HOURLY RAINFALL RATES OF UP TO AN         
  INCH...AND PERHAPS MORE IN THESE AREAS THROUGH SUNSET.  

* FLOODING IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG FLOOD PRONE TRIBUTARIES OF   
  THE LITTLE TENNESSEE RIVER BETWEEN UNION AND OTTO...AND WILL ALSO  
  BE POSSIBLE ALONG TRIBUTARIES OF THE CULLASAJA RIVER IN THE        
  VICINITY OF HIGHLANDS. IN ADDITION...MUD AND ROCK SLIDES WILL      
  BE POSSIBLE IN AREAS OF STEEP TERRAIN.       

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.

WHEN DRIVING ALONG ROADS WHERE THE TERRAIN IS STEEP OR ROCKY...REMAIN
ALERT FOR POSSIBLE ROCK OR MUD SLIDES DUE TO THE HEAVY RAIN.

$$

LANE
2 follow-up statements
000 
WGUS72 KGSP 040003
FFSGSP
NCC113-040100-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
803 PM EDT THU JUL 3 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 900 PM EDT FOR MACON
COUNTY...

AS OF 750 PM...NO REPORTS OF FLOODING HAVE BEEN RECEIVED FROM THE 
COUNTY. THE SHOWERS THAT PRODUCED IN EXCESS OF 2 INCHES OF RAIN IN A 
BRIEF PERIOD IN THE HIGHLANDS AND UNION AREAS HAVE MOVED OUT OF THE 
AREA. HOWEVER...RUNOFF FROM THESE SHOWERS COULD STILL CONTRIBUTE TO 
RISING WATER LEVELS AND FLOODING ALONG FLOOD PRONE STREAMS ALONG THE 
HIGHWAY 441 CORRIDOR BETWEEN OTTO AND UNION...AND IN AREAS FROM 
HIGHLANDS NORTHWARD TO THE CULLASAJA GORGE AREA.   

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.

$$

LANE
000 
WGUS72 KGSP 040100
FFSGSP
NCC113-040105-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
900 PM EDT THU JUL 3 2003

...THE FLASH FLOOD WARNING WHICH WAS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHERN MACON 
COUNTY UNTIL 900 PM HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO EXPIRE... 

NO FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED ACROSS THE COUNTY AND THE SHOWERS THAT 
PRODUCED HEAVY RAINFALL EARLY THIS EVENING HAVE DISSIPATED. 
THEREFORE THE THREAT OF FLOODING HAS ENDED. 

$$

LANE

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 Jul 3, 5:50 PM EDT, 1 hour 16 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 3, 5:50 PM EDT, 1 hour 16 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
550 PM EDT THU JUL 3 2003

A QUICK UPDATE TO ACCOUNT FOR CONVECTION ONGOING ACROSS SW NC/NE
GA/FAR WRN SC. INSTABILITY IS FAIRLY LIMITED TO THE EAST OF THIS
ACTIVITY. THINK ANY ADDITIONAL CONVECTION WILL BE LIMITED TO AREAS
WHERE OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES CAN MAKE THE MOST OF WHAT INSTABILITY THERE
IS...GENERALLY TO THE SOUTH AND WEST OF THE CONVECTION. ACTIVITY
SHOULD DIE OUT AROUND SUNSET.

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

MOORE

...PREVIOUS DISCUSSION SENT AT 145 PM...
SUBSIDENCE BEHIND BILL EXPECTED TO KEEP SKIES MCLR OVERNIGHT. FRI
ALSO CONTINUES DRY WITH TEMPS EXPECTED TO REACH OR PSBLY BREAK THE
90 DEGREE MARK IN THE S FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE
BEGINS TO INCREASE FROM THE S LATE FRI AND EXPECT A FEW MORE
CLOUDS...FORECAST FOR THE 4TH STILL LOOKS PRECIP FREE ATTM.

DEEPER MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY RETURNS TO THE AREA THIS
WEEKEND...BRINGING A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON-EVE CONVECTION. AS MOISTURE
INCREASES FROM THE S...A WEAK UPPER LEVEL SHRTWAVE ALSO PUSHES IN
FROM THE W ON SAT WITH WEAK OMEGA INDICATED. ON SUN AN UPPER TROF
MOVES IN FROM THE W WITH PVA AND BETTER UVV. A SFC WAVE IS ALSO FCST
TO SURGE MAINLY ACROSS NE GA AND UPSTATE SC. WILL KEEP CHANCE POPS
THROUGH THE WEEKEND AND HAVE BUMPED POPS ACROSS THE S UP TP 40% SUN.
SFC BOUNDARY AND MOISTURE FCST TO PUSH BACK S MON-TUE WITH ANOTHER
WAVE MOVG IN FOR WED INTO THU.

FCSTID =   77
GSP   68  90  70  89 /  10  10  10  30
AND   68  90  70  90 /  10  10  10  30
CLT   68  90  70  90 /  10  10  10  30
HKY   67  90  69  88 /  10  10  10  30
AVL   63  86  64  85 /  10  10  10  30

RB
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 3, 6:00 AM EDT, 13 hours 6 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-031200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
600 AM EDT THU JUL 3 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER PORTIONS OF THE AREA THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING
ON SATURDAY...SUNDAY AND AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

RWH

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 3, 6:21 PM EDT, 45 minutes before
NCZ062-032310-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
621 PM EDT THU JUL 3 2003

...TORRENTIAL RAINFALL OCCURRING ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF OF MACON
COUNTY...

AT 610 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED SLOW MOVING
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING TOREENTIAL RAINFALL IN AREAS
NEAR HIGHLANDS. RADAR ESTIMATES THAT SINCE 5 PM...1.5 TO 2 INCHES OF
RAIN HAS FALLEN ALONG HIGHWAY 28 NORTH OF HIGHLANDS...AND ALONG
HIGHWAY 106 JUST WEST OF HIGHLANDS. MOTORISTS TRAVELING IN THESE
AREAS SHOULD PREPARE FOR THE LIKELIHOOD OF STANDING WATER ON
ROADS...AND BE ALERT FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF ROCK OR LAND SLIDES.
OTHER SHOWERS AND STORMS WERE DEVELOPING NORTHWESTWARD TOWARD
HIGHWAY 441 BETWEEN OTTO AND UNION.

THROUGH 7 PM...THE STORMS SHOULD DRIFT SLOWLY SOUTHWEST...SHIFTING
THE FOCUS OF HEAVIEST RAIN WESTWARD ALONG HIGHWAY 106 TOWARD SCALY.
HOWEVER...HOURLY RAINFALL RATES APPROACHING AN INCH PER HOUR WILL
STILL BE POSSIBLE AS FAR EAST AS HIGHLANDS...AND AS FAR NORTH AS
UNION.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF
THESE STORMS FOR POSSIBLE FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS IN THE NEAR FUTURE.

LANE

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.