Flash Flooding in North Carolina, March 20 to 21, 2001

Name: Flash Flooding in North Carolina, March 20 to 21, 2001
Start: 2001-03-20T17:30
End: 2001-03-21T01:00
Location: North Carolina

March 20 to 21, 2001 · NWS ILM · 3 events in 3 counties and zones

3 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 3 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $50,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Wilmington, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 20, 1:50 PM EST, 3 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 20, 1:50 PM EST, 3 hours 40 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
150 PM EST TUE MAR 20 2001

...INTENSE STORM OVER THE SE CONTINUES TO SPREAD HVY RAFL AND STRONG
WIND ACROSS THE AREA AND ADJACENT ATLC WATERS...

LATEST SFC ANALYSIS DEPICTS A DOUBLE LOW STRUCTURE W/ ONE LOW OFF
THE GA COAST AND A LOW FILLING ACROSS WRN GA. PER WATER VAPOR THE
MAIN UPPER LOW CENTER WAS POSND ACROSS AL. STRONG DIFLUENCE ALOFT
...COUPLED W/ STRONG LLVL CONVERGENCE HAS RESULTED IN A LARGE SWATH
OF MOD TO HEAVY RAFL ACROSS THE FA. ANOTHER BAND WAS APPROACHING
FROM THE S. THE FCST THIS CYCLE WILL REMAIN VERY COMPLEX AS ONE
WOULD EXPECT...BUT AT LEAST THE ETA/AVN MODELS LOOK REASONABLE.

A DIVERGENT THICKNESS PTN AND HIGH PWS VALUES IMPLY HEAVY RAFL
CONTINUING THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING.
LIKEWISE...VERY STRONG DYNAMICS W/ +100 KT JET NOSING INTO THE AREA
FM THE S AND FAVORABLE QUAD TO PASS OVHD TONIGHT A CHANCE TO SEE
TSTMS. STRONG UVM WILL REMAIN THROUGH MUCH OF THE EVENING UNTIL THE
LOW BEGINS TO PIVOT THROUGH. ALTHOUGH THE DEEPEST MSTR WILL SHIFT
OFF TO THE N AND NE BY LATER TONIGHT W/ DRY SLOT WORKING THROUGH...
THE COLD POOL ALOFT (AOA -24C AT H5) WILL SHARPEN LAPSE RATES
TONIGHT...AND ESPECIALLY ON WED. SO WILL LIKELY SEE SCT SHOWERS AND
TSTMS CONTINUING INTO WED. EXPECT CLEARING TO BEGIN WED NIGHT INTO
THU.

AS THE LOW SHIFTS NWD WILL PROBABLY SEE TEMPS HOLD STEADY OR EVEN
INCREASE ALONG COASTAL AREAS TONIGHT. OTHERWISE THE MAV/FWC GUIDANCE
APPEARS REASONABLE FOR REMAINING PERIODS. WILL ALSO BE WINDY...ESP
ALONG THE IMMEDIATE COASTAL AREAS. WILL RETAIN WIND ADVISORY FOR
COASTAL AREAS THROUGH THIS EVENING...BUT SPEEDS SHOULD BEGIN TO
DIMINISH ONCE THE LOW MOVES INTO THE VICINITY W/ A SHIFT TO THE SW.
WILL ALSO HAVE TO KEEP AN EYE ON STRONGER WINDS MIXING DOWN TO THE
SFC WITHIN THE BANDS OF HVY RAFL.

WATER LEVELS RUNNING 2-3 FT ABV PREDICTED NORMALS. MINOR COASTAL
FLOODING AND SOME BEACH EROSION ARE STILL POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY
DURING HIGH TIDE LATER THIS AFTERNOON. WE HAVE NOT HAD ANY REPORTS
OF ANY PROBLEMS THUS FAR...AND W/ THE WIND VEERING AROUND TO AN
OFFSHORE DIR...THE THREAT FOR MINOR COASTAL FLOODING WILL DIMINISH
DURING SUBSEQUENT HIGH TIDE CYCLES.

CWF: VERY HIGH SEAS CONTINUE AT THE EDISTO BUOY WHERE SEAS HAVE BEEN
IN EXCESS OF 20 FT WILL LEAVE HVY SURF ADVSRY UP AND GALE CONDS
WILL CONTINUE AS STRONG WIND FIELD PERSISTS. FORTUNATELY...AS THE
LOW MOVE NWD THE STRONGER WINDS WILL SHIFT FARTHER N...THUS THE
GALES MAY ONLY LINGER INTO THE EARLY EVENING FOR THE SC MARINE
AREAS. THE DIR WILL VEER AROUND TO THE SW TONIGHT...BUT SEAS WILL
REMAIN UP THROUGH WED. ADDITIONAL VEERING TO THE NW IS EXPECTED WED
NIGHT AS THE LOW MOVES E OF DELMARVA.

FCSTID = 29
ILM   53  62  44  63 /  80  40  20   0
LBT   46  57  42  62 /  80  40  10   0
FLO   47  58  43  65 /  80  40  10   0
MYR   55  60  45  63 /  80  40  20   0

.ILM...
NC...GALE WARNING SURF CITY TO LITTLE RIVER INLET
     HEAVY SURF ADVISORY SURF CITY TO LITTLE RIVER INLET
     WIND ADVISORY IMMEDIATE COAST NCZ097-100-101.
SC...GALE WARNING LITTLE RIVER INLET TO S SANTEE RIVER
     HEAVY SURF ADVISORY LITTLE RIVER INLET TO S SANTEE RIVER
     WIND ADVISORY IMMEDIATE COAST SCZ034-046.

PFAFF

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 20, 3:52 PM EST, 1 hour 38 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON, NC
352 PM EST TUE MAR 20 2001

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

0330 PM    SURFSIDE BEACH            SC   FLASH FLOODS
03/20/01   HORRY                          FLOODING ALONG OCEAN BLVD
                                          AT MYRTLE AND DOGWOOD.
                                          REPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT

TM

Local storm report, Mar 20, 4:33 PM EST, 57 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON, NC
433 PM EST TUE MAR 20 2001

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

0420 PM    MYRTLE BEACH              SC   FLASH FLOODS
03/20/01   HORRY                          HORRY SKYWARN REPORTED
                                          MAJOR FLOODING AT
                                          INTERSECTION OF HWY 707 AND
                                          HWY 17, WITH COALITION ROAD
                                          UNDER WATER.

DL

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

3 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Brunswick

When: March 20, 5:30 PM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where: Brunswick County, Long Beach
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 34.039, -78.227 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, New Hanover

When: March 20, 8:15 PM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: New Hanover County, Wilmington
Property damage: $50,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 34.181, -77.866 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flash Flood, Pender

When: March 20, 8:30 PM EST to March 21, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Pender County, Watha
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 34.515, -77.889 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A strong low pressure system caused gusty winds...but heavy rains during the afternoon and into the night accumulated 2 to 4 inches and caused widespread flash flooding over eastern Brunswick, New Hanover and Pender Counties.At the Wilmington airport in New Hanover County, rainfall increased significantly between 8 and 9 pm, where 1.63 inches fell. This produce widespread street flooding acoss town. The New Hanover 911 center reported flooding on 17th and Dawson Streets, 3rd and Wooster, and 13th and Rankin. Flooding also occurred on the 1400 block of Market Street, and two feet of water was reported on Princess Place Drive. College Road also had extensive flooding, with several cars reported floating down the street or submerged near Greenbriar, causing an estimated $50,000 damage. Heavy rains also occurred in Pender County, where a spotter reported three inches of rainfall in the town of Watha with numerous streets flooded. In Hampstead, law enforcement reported flooding on Hwy 210, with flooding also on Hwy 53 between Atkinson and Maple Hill. A law enforcement vehicle was traveling east on Hwy 53 when he hydroplaned off the road. No injuries were reported.Brunswick County had flooding in the town of Long Beach. Law inforcement reported street flooding, not only due to rainfall, but to some minor storm surge from strong onshore winds. Police reported over 1 1/2 feet of ocean water on Beach Road.

What these are

Flash Flood: Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in North Carolina in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history Warnings in North Carolina, March 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5238046, 5238045, 5238044.