Alert archive / North Carolina / Flash Flood Warnings in 2003

Flash Flood Warning 95, NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC

July 30, 2003Polk County, North Carolina

NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC issued this flash flood warning at Jul 30, 2003, 10:28 PM EDT for Polk 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
Jul 30, 2003, 10:28 PM EDT (02:28 UTC)
Expired
Jul 31, 2003, 1:30 AM EDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Greenville-Spartanburg, SC
Area
Whole counties

County Polk County, NC

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 44 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:28 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 00:00Z, 2.5 hours before the alert went out and 224 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 00:00Z on 2003-07-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 6 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, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 2003-07-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 40 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
6 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-150 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
510 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
113 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 310232
FFWGSP
NCC149-310530-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1028 PM EDT WED JUL 30 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG HAS ISSUED A

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR...
  POLK COUNTY IN WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA

* UNTIL 130 AM EDT

* AT 1018 PM EDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY HEAVY
  RAIN OVER POLK COUNTY. A COUPLE INCHES OF RAIN HAVE ALREADY FELL
  OVER CENTRAL PORTIONS OF THE COUNTY. ANOTHER COUPLE OF INCHES OF 
  RAINFALL IS EXPECTED OVER THIS AREA AS ANOTHER BAND OF STORMS 
  SPREAD UP FROM THE SOUTH.

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.

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.

$$

RBN
1 follow-up statement
000 
WGUS72 KGSP 310432
FFSGSP
NCC149-310530-

FLASH FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1225 AM EDT THU JUL 31 2003

...A FLASH FLOOD WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 130 AM EDT FOR POLK
COUNTY...

COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS RECENTLY REPORTED SOME ROADS FLOODED 
THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY AND A MUDSLIDE HAD OCCURRED ALONG HIGHWAY
108 NEAR MILL SPRING. DOPPLER RADAR RAINFALL ESTIMATES A LARGE
SWATH OF 3 TO 4 INCHES HAD FALLEN FROM AROUND COLUMBUS NORTHEAST
THROUGH MILL SPRING AND LAKE ADGER OVER TO THE RUTHERFORD COUNTY 
LINE SINCE WEDNESDAY EVENING. RADAR TRENDS DID SHOW HEAVY RAIN
CONTINUING OVER THE COUNTY WITH HOURLY RAINFALL RATES UP TO
AN INCH.   

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS. USE CAUTION IN OR NEAR ANY SMALL
CREEK TONIGHT...AND AVOID ROUTES THAT YOU KNOW ARE FLOOD PRONE.

$$

55

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 30, 10:19 PM EDT, 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 30, 10:19 PM EDT, 9 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1019 PM EDT WED JUL 30 2003

EXTREMELY BUSY WITH FFW/S THIS EVENING...HAVE ISSUED UPDATED
FFA TO EXTEND THRU TONIGHT & ADDED MCDOWELL COUNTY AS WELL.
KGSP VWP INDICATES VERY FAVORABLE DEEP SSE FLOW FOR CONTINUED
REDEVELOPMENT WITH 00Z AREA SNDGS INDICATING PWATS AROUND 130
PERCENT OF NORMAL. WILL ALSO NEED TO MONITOR OUTFLOW DRIVEN
TSTMS EXTENDING EAST TOWARD CLT AS WELL...BUT THIS AREA IS
PROPAGATING INTO A MORE STABLE AIRMASS AS PER LATEST MSAS...
SO HOPEFULLY AREAL EXTENT OF HEAVY RAIN THREAT EAST OF THE
WATCH AREA WILL BE MORE LIMITED. OTHERWISE...AS FAR AS POP
GRIDS GO TONIGHT...WILL OBVIOUSLY BE INCREASING IN MANY AREAS
BASED ON CURRENT COVERAGE AND CONTINUED UPSLOPE AND ALSO
FOR POTENTIAL INCREASE IN LLVL UPGLIDE FLOW EXPECTED
OVERNIGHT STARTING THE FAR WEST.

FCSTID = 55
GSP   70  86  71  86 / 100  60  60  50
AND   71  88  72  87 /  70  60  60  40
CLT   70  86  71  87 / 100  60  60  50
HKY   67  83  69  84 /  40  60  60  50
AVL   66  82  67  82 /  50  60  60  40

.GSP...
GA...FLOOD WATCH THROUGH TONIGHT FOR ZONES GAZ010...GAZ017>018.
NC...FLOOD WATCH THROUGH TONIGHT FOR ZONES NCZ054-NCZ063>067.
SC...FLOOD WATCH THROUGH TONIGHT FOR ZONES SCZ001>007.
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 30, 4:30 AM EDT, 17 hours 58 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-301100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
430 AM EDT WED JUL 30 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THROUGH THE
EXTENDED PERIOD.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.

RB

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 30, 9:17 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPMcDowell, Rutherford3 hr
Jul 30, 10:14 PM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPUnion3 hr
Jul 31, 12:10 AM EDTFlash Flood WarningGSPMcDowell, Rutherford3 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.