Heavy Snow, Rabun
- When
- February 6, 8:00 PM EST to February 7, 4:00 AM EST
- Where
- Rabun forecast zone
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 34.882, -83.402 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heavy Snow in Georgia, February 6 to 7, 2003
Light snow began falling during the late afternoon of the 6th, and increased in intensity during the evening and overnight hours. By early morning on the 7th, snowfall averaged around 3 inches across the county, with slightly higher amounts observed in the highest elevations.
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.
Light snow began falling during the late afternoon of the 6th, and increased in intensity during the evening and overnight hours. By early morning on the 7th, snowfall averaged around 3 inches across the county, with slightly higher amounts observed in the highest elevations.
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 Feb 6, 7:37 PM EST, 23 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 6, 7:37 PM EST, 23 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 737 PM EST THU FEB 6 2003 WILL UPDATE NORTHERN NC FTHL ZONES TO INCREASE ACCUMS INTO THE 2-4 RANGE...GIVING AN AVERAGE OF 3...JUST ENOUGH TO ELEVATE INTO WINTER STORM WARNING CATEGORY. LOOKS LIKE IN-SITU WEDGE HAS LOCKED IN SFC TEMPS IN LOWER 30S...IF NOT AROUND 30F. SO BASED ON RUC AND 18Z ETA FCST SNDG TRENDS...SVRL MORE HOURS OF PREDOMINATE SNOW BEFORE PL MIX...GRNLY FROM 03Z ONWARD. ALSO...IF LIQUID CAN PREDOMINATE AT ANY POINT BEFORE ENDING BY 09Z...SHOULD BE FZRA. FCSTID = 55 GSP 33 50 29 48 / 100 10 0 0 AND 34 50 29 48 / 100 10 0 0 CLT 34 50 27 47 / 100 10 0 0 HKY 31 47 27 43 / 100 10 0 0 AVL 30 41 20 40 / 100 10 10 0 .GSP... GA... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONES GAZ010...GAZ017. NC... WINTER STORM WARNING FOR TONIGHT AND FRIDAY FOR ZONES NCZ033...NCZ049>050. WINTER STORM WARNING FOR TONIGHT AND FRIDAY FOR ZONES NCZ048... NCZ051>052...NCZ058. WINTER STORM WARNING FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONES NCZ034..NCZ053>055...NCZ059... NCZ062>065. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONES NCZ035>037... NCZ056>057. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONES NCZ066>067. SC... WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONES SCZ001>003.
Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 6, 5:00 AM EST, 15 hours before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-061200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 500 AM EST THU FEB 6 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA... UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR THE MOUNTAINS OF NORTH CAROLINA THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT WHERE 1 TO 2 INCHES OF SNOW ARE EXPECTED. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY IS ALSO IN EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT IN THE NORTHERN FOOTHILLS AND NORTHWEST PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA...WHERE AN INCH OF SNOW IS EXPECTED...AND FREEZING RAIN IS POSSIBLE TONIGHT. THE REST OF THE AREA CAN EXPECT SNOW MIXED WITH RAIN TODAY...WITH LITTLE OR NO ACCUMULATION...CHANGING TO RAIN TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FRIDAY FOR THE TENNESSEE BORDER COUNTIES OF NORTH CAROLINAS FROM AVERY COUNTY TO GRAHAM COUNTY...WHERE AN ADDITIONAL INCH OF SNOW IS POSSIBLE. SCATTERED SNOW SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED FROM SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. 07
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- Heavy Snow
- Snowfall reaching the local warning threshold without the other hazards of a winter storm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, February 6, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Tennessee, February 6, 2003
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Virginia, February 6 to 7, 2003
- Heavy Snow and Winter Weather in New Jersey, February 6 to 7, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Virginia, February 6 to 7, 2003
- Winter Weather in Georgia, February 6, 2003
- Winter Storm and Winter Weather in Maryland, February 6 to 7, 2003
- Winter Storm in Virginia, February 6 to 7, 2003
- Heavy Snow in North Carolina, February 6 to 7, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Missouri, February 6, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Kentucky, February 6, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Oklahoma, February 6, 2003
More
Every storm in Georgia in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Georgia, February 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: 5344685.