Flash Flood, Elbert
- When
- April 21, 5:30 PM EST to 7:30 PM EST
- Where
- Elbert County, 7 mi N of Elberton
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 34.117, -82.840 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Flash Flood in Georgia, April 21, 2003
Heavy rain resulted in rapid rises and flooding along a stream near Centerville. A secondary road and a portion of highway 77 required closing.
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
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.
Heavy rain resulted in rapid rises and flooding along a stream near Centerville. A secondary road and a portion of highway 77 required closing.
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 Apr 21, 2:04 PM EST, 3 hours 26 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 21, 2:04 PM EST, 3 hours 26 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 304 PM EDT MON APR 21 2003 LEADING AREA OF SHRA AND EMBEDDED TSRA MOVING OVER UPSTATE AND NC PIEDMONT ATTM. ATMOS BECOMING MORE UNSTABLE OVER MTNS AND SRN SECTIONS OF CWFA. SPC HAS OUTLOOKED NC MTNS FOR CONTINUED POSSIBILITY OF ISOLATED SVR LATE THIS AFTERNOON BEFORE FROPA. WILL LEAVE CHC POP THERE AND GO LIKELY POP EARLY GA/SC AND NC PIEDMONT. LOWS TONIGHT WARMER ERN SECTIONS. AFTER SOME WRAP AROUND CLOUDS AND POSSIBLY A SPRINKLE OR TWO NRN MTNS EARLY TUE...TRANQUIL WX PATTERN SETS UP THRU WED NITE. DRY HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE AREA. HIGHS NEAR OR JUST BELOW NORMAL WITH BELOW NORMAL LOWS. IN FACT...WILL NEED TO WATCH FOR FROST NC MTNS WED NITE. LIKELY TOO MUCH WIND TUE NITE...BUT WILL NEED TO KEEP IN MIND. MOISTURE RETURNS THU AHEAD OF THE NEXT WX SYSTEM THAT MOVES THRU THE AREA SATURDAY. MDLS HINTING AT POSSIBLE PRECIP LATE THU/THU NITE. THIS IS FASTER THAN PREVIOUS RUNS. WILL FOLLOW HPC LEAD LEAVE DRY FOR NOW...CONFINING POPS TO FRI/SAT. COOL TEMPS DURING THE PRECIP THEN WARMING TREND SUN/MON. FCSTID = 81 GSP 52 72 43 71 / 40 0 0 0 AND 52 72 45 72 / 40 0 0 0 CLT 54 72 45 71 / 60 0 0 0 HKY 52 69 43 69 / 30 0 0 0 AVL 48 66 39 67 / 30 10 0 0 .GSP... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. RWH
Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 21, 4:54 AM EST, 12 hours 36 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-211200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 554 AM EDT MON APR 21 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA... UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AREAS OF DENSE FOG WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE MID MORNING ACROSS THE AREA TO THE SOUTH OF A LINE FROM CARNESVILLE TO HARTWELL... ANDERSON...AND CLINTON. A DENSE FOG ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 AM. FOR MORE INFORMATION...SEE THE NPWGSP PRODUCT ISSUED AT 343 AM. THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE REGION TODAY AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS GENERALLY TO THE NORTH OF A LINE FROM TAYLORSVILLE TO STATESVILLE AND SALISBURY...BUT A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ELSEWHERE ACROSS THE REGION. FOR MORE DETAILS...SEE THE SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK (SPSGSP) ISSUED AT 430 AM. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED. MOORE
The radar
The Greer radar (KGSP), 102 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:30 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Damaging Wind in Illinois, April 21, 2003
- Tornado in South Carolina, April 21, 2003
- Heavy Rain and Strong Wind in California, April 21, 2003
- High Surf in Hawaii, April 21 to 23, 2003
- Hail and Lightning Strikes in Georgia, April 21, 2003
- Hail and Damaging Winds in South Carolina, April 21, 2003
- Flooding in Wisconsin, April 21 to 25, 2003
- Damaging Wind in Colorado, April 21, 2003
- Damaging Wind in Georgia, April 21, 2003
- Damaging Wind in South Carolina, April 21, 2003
- Damaging Wind in South Carolina, April 21, 2003
- Flash Flood in South Carolina, April 21, 2003
More
Every storm in Georgia in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, April 2003
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: 5355149.