Name: Flash Flood in Georgia, December 24 to 25, 2002
Start: 2002-12-24T12:00
End: 2002-12-25T00:00
Location: Georgia

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 1 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: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 1

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 happened

The episode as NWS GSP wrote it up.

Some creeks and streams flooded low lying areas.

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 Greenville-Spartanburg, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Dec 24, 9:15 AM EST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 24, 9:15 AM EST, 2 hours 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
915 AM EST TUE DEC 24 2002

ONLY MINOR CHANGES TO FORECAST AT 930.  SNOW IS REPORTED BY SEVERAL
STATIONS IN NC MOUNTAINS AND PIEDMONT.  HOWEVER TEMPERATURES ARE IN
THE UPPER 30S SO NO ACCUMULATION EXPECTED TODAY.

NO CHANGES IN FLASH FLOOD WATCH.  PRECIP ACCUMULATIONS ARE
APPROACHING TWO INCHES.  ONE NOTE...RADAR IS OVERESTIMATING PRECIP
BY AT LEAST A FACTOR OF TWO.  RUC HAS HEAVIEST PRECIP OUT OF THE
AREA BY 18Z WITH ANOTHER MINOR SHOT COMING IN LATER TONIGHT.

.GSP...
GA...FLOOD WATCH THROUGH TONIGHT GAZ010-017>018-026-028.
NC...FLOOD WATCH THROUGH TONIGHT NCZ051-058>059-062>067.
SC...FLOOD WATCH THROUGH TONIGHT SCZ001>007-010.

DICARLO

Hazardous weather outlook, Dec 24, 6:05 AM EST, 5 hours 55 minutes before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-241300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
605 AM EST TUE DEC 24 2002

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

.DAY ONE...

WIDESPREAD RAIN...FALLING HEAVY AT TIMES...WILL CONTINUE INTO
THIS EVENING. A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF THE AREA.
FOR FURTHER DETAILS...PLEASE SEE THE LATEST FFAGSP ISSUED BY
THIS OFFICE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

WINDY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP CHRISTMAS DAY. SNOW
SHOWERS ARE LIKELY ACROSS PARTS OF THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS
AS WELL...WITH SOME ACCUMULATION POSSIBLE.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY FLOODING OR AREAS OF HIGH
WATER WHICH ARE OBSERVED.

55

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 105 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:58 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Stephens

When: December 24, 12:00 PM EST to December 25, 12:00 AM EST
Where: Stephens County, Countywide
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 34.554, -83.293 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

More

Every storm in Georgia in 2002 Every state in 2002 This day in weather history Warnings in Georgia, December 2002

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: 5326743.