Winter Weather, Rabun
- When
- December 19, 6:00 AM EST to December 20, 6:00 AM EST
- Where
- Rabun forecast zone
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 34.882, -83.402 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Winter Weather in Georgia, December 19 to 20, 2003
Once the heavy snow ended, an extended period of light snow produced additional light accumulations across portions of the Georgia mountains.
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.
Once the heavy snow ended, an extended period of light snow produced additional light accumulations across portions of the Georgia mountains.
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 19, 3:15 AM EST, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 19, 3:15 AM EST, 2 hours 45 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
315 AM EST FRI DEC 19 2003
.DISCUSSION...
500 MB TROUGH AXIS CURRENTLY OVER THE REGION WITH A CHANNELED VORT
MAXIMA CENTERED OVER NE GA EXPECTED TO MOVE SLOWLY EAST OF
THE AREA TODAY. ADDITIONAL WEAK UPPER LEVEL FEATURE IS INDICATED ON
RADAR OVER CENTRAL TN...FORCING AN AREA OF SNOW SHOWERS FROM BNA TO
CHA. DYNAMIC PRECIP WILL BE VERY HARD TO TIME AND PRECISELY LOCATE
TODAY WITH SEVERAL FEATURES EMBEDDED IN THE UPPER TROUGH. WILL
GENERALLY MAINTAIN ONLY SCATTERED SNOW SHOWER COVERAGE IN THE CURRENT
ADVISORY AREAS...SO PLAN ON ALLOWING SNOW ADVISORIES TO EXPIRE ON
SCHEDULE AT 6 AM.
PATTERN BECOMES INCREASINGLY CLASSICAL NORTHWEST UPSLOPE FLOW TODAY
OVER THE NC MTNS WITH LIQUID EQUIV PRECIP AMOUNTS OF .2 INCHES OR
BETTER LIKELY FROM 18Z TO 06Z TONIGHT. WILL FEATURE ADDITIONAL
SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 3 TO 4 INCHES FROM MADISON TO AVERY...AND
TAPER AMOUNTS DOWN SLIGHTLY TOWARD THE SMOKIES AND EAST TO THE BLUE
RIDGE. 30 KT 850 MB JET WILL KEEP WINDS BELOW WIND ADVISORY
CRITERIA...BUT CONSIDERABLE BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF THE SNOW IS
LIKELY. UPSLOPE PRECIPITATION SHOULD END FROM THE SOUTHWEST FAIRLY
QUICKLY AROUND DAYBREAK SATURDAY.
DRY HIGH PRES WILL DOMINATE THE WEATHER OVER THE WEEKEND...BEFORE
MOISTURE BEGINS POOLING AHEAD OF FRONT SAGGING INTO THE OHIO VALLEY
EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE GFS HAS SHOWN POOR RUN TO RUN CONSISTENCY WITH
PRECIP SLATED FOR THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK...SO PLAN NO CHANGES TO
EXISTING EXTENDED FORECAST.
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
GSP 44 26 43 22 / 20 10 00 00
AND 45 26 45 22 / 20 10 00 00
CLT 43 26 42 22 / 20 10 00 00
HKY 40 25 39 21 / 30 10 10 00
AVL 35 23 33 18 / 50 30 10 00
&&
.GSP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
GA...NONE.
NC...WINTER STORM WARNING TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR ZONES
NCZ033-048>053-058-059
SC...NONE.
&&
HGHazardous weather outlook, Dec 19, 5:25 AM EST, 35 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 525 AM EST FRI DEC 19 2003 GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-191224- ABBEVILLE SC-ALEXANDER NC-ANDERSON SC-AVERY NC-BUNCOMBE NC-BURKE NC- CABARRUS NC-CALDWELL NC-CATAWBA NC-CHEROKEE SC-CHESTER SC- CLEVELAND NC-DAVIE NC-ELBERT GA-FRANKLIN GA-GASTON NC-GRAHAM NC- GREATER GREENVILLE SC-GREATER OCONEE SC-GREATER PICKENS SC- GREENVILLE MOUNTAINS SC-GREENWOOD SC-HABERSHAM GA-HART GA-HAYWOOD NC- HENDERSON NC-IREDELL NC-LAURENS SC-LINCOLN NC-MACON NC-MADISON NC- MCDOWELL NC-MECKLENBURG NC-MITCHELL NC-NORTHERN JACKSON NC- OCONEE MOUNTAINS SC-PICKENS MOUNTAINS SC-POLK NC-RABUN GA-ROWAN NC- RUTHERFORD NC-SOUTHERN JACKSON NC-SPARTANBURG SC-STEPHENS GA- SWAIN NC-TRANSYLVANIA NC-UNION SC-UNION NC-YANCEY NC-YORK SC- 525 AM EST FRI DEC 19 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA... UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAY ONE... A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE WILL CROSS THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS TODAY. PERSISTENT NORTHWEST FLOW INTO THE WESTERN MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CAROLINA WILL PRODUCE HEAVY SNOWFALL FROM NEWLAND TO WEAVERVILLE TO THE SMOKIES. ADDITIONAL ACCUMULATIONS OF 2 TO 4 INCHES ARE LIKELY TODAY AND TONIGHT...WITH THE HIGHEST TOTALS NEAR THE TENNESSEE BORDER AND AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS. PLEASE SEE THE LATEST WINTER STORM WARNING...WSWGSP...FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THE SNOWFALL EXPECTED IN THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIANS THROUGH TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... WIND CHILL VALUES WILL LIKELY HOVER NEAR THE ZERO MARK IN THE NORTHERN MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CAROLINA AROUND DAYBREAK ON SATURDAY. OTHERWISE...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS ARE URGED TO FORWARD ANY SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS TODAY OR TONIGHT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 winter weather. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Winter Weather
- Snow, sleet or freezing rain below warning levels that still caused disruption, damage or casualties.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Heavy Snow in Tennessee, December 19 to 20, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Virginia, December 19 to 20, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Michigan, December 19, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Michigan, December 19 to 20, 2003
- Winter Weather in North Carolina, December 19 to 20, 2003
- Flooding in Connecticut, December 19 to 21, 2003
- Heavy Snow in New York, December 19, 2003
More
Every storm in Georgia in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, December 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: 5379944.