Heavy Snow in Georgia, January 16, 2003

Name: Heavy Snow in Georgia, January 16, 2003
Start: 2003-01-16T18:00
End: 2003-01-16T22:00
Location: Georgia

January 16, 2003 · NWS GSP · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Light snow began during the late afternoon across the far northern mountains of Georgia, and gradually intensified. By late evening, 3 to 4 inches had accumulated.

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.

Light snow began during the late afternoon across the far northern mountains of Georgia, and gradually intensified. By late evening, 3 to 4 inches had accumulated.

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 Jan 16, 4:45 PM EST, 1 hour 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 16, 4:45 PM EST, 1 hour 15 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
445 PM EST THU JAN 16 2003

MAIN CONCERN IS WINTER STORM APPROACHING FROM WEST THIS AFTERNOON.
INITIAL PRECIP IS WORKING DOWN TO SURFACE ACROSS NC MTNS AND INTO
WRN SC/NE GA...IN THE FORM OF SLEET AND SNOW. LATEST MODEL GUIDANCE
IS SUPPORTIVE OF ONGOING FORECAST...WITH A FEW TWEAKS NECESSARY.

MODELS SHOW MUCH MORE LOW LEVEL WARM AIR MOVING NWD AHEAD OF
LOW...AND INTO NC SRN PIEDMONT THIS EVENING. WARM LOW LEVEL PARTIAL
THICKNESSES SUPPORT ONLY RAIN ACROSS AREA FROM ROCK HILL TO
MONROE...SO YORK COUNTY SC AND UNION COUNTY NC WILL BE DROPPED FROM
ADVISORY. THINK RAIN/SNOW LINE WILL BE ALONG OR JUST N OF INTERSTATE
85...BUT AGAIN PRECIP AMTS ARE IN QUESTION. EXPECT A BURST OF RAIN
AND SNOW ALONG I-85 CORRIDOR...ONE OR TWO INCHES...BUT NOT ENOUGH
ACCUMULATION TO WARRANT UPGRADE TO WARNING. THINGS GET TRICKIER
FARTHER N AND W.

HEAVY SNOW NOTED ACRS MIDDLE TN THIS AFTERNOON. EXPECT BAND OF HEAVY
SNOW TO MOVE ACROSS MOUNTAINS AND INTO NRN NC FOOTHILLS BY SUNSET
EVENING...ROUGHLY JUST N OF TRACK OF MAIN UPPER VORT AND ABOUT 100
MILES N OF AXIS OF MID LEVEL JET/DRY SLOT. THIS WARRANTS UPGRADE TO
WARNING ACROSS NC NRN FOOTHILL COUNTIES...INCLUDING ALEXANDER. NW
PIEDMONT IS THE TOUGH SPOT TO CALL. THINK QUICK BURST OF SNOW IN
THIS AREA DURING EARLY TO MID EVENING BUT ONLY UP TO 3 INCHES...OR
BELOW WARNING CRITERIA. WILL LEAVE AT ADVISORY FOR NOW IN NW
PIEDMONT BUT WILL WATCH CAREFULLY FOR UPGRADE AS EVENT UNFOLDS.
PRECIP SHOULD BE ALL BUT OVER BY MIDNIGHT...WITH ONLY SCATTERED
SNOWSHOWERS AFTER MIDNIGHT...EXCEPT FOR MTNS WHERE THE SNOW WILL
CONTINUE OFF AND ON FOR THE BETTER PART OF FRIDAY AND FRIDAY EVENING
ALONG THE TN BORDER.

TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN RATHER COLD THROUGH THE WEEKEND. TWO MINOR
PROBLEMS ARE HIGH TEMP SATURDAY AND POSSIBILITY OF MORE MOUNTAIN
SNOW SATURDAY NIGHT. AS FOR THE TEMPS...MAV AND FWC DIFFER BY NEARLY
10 DEGREES...WITH MAV NOT ABOVE FREEZING ACROSS A GOOD BIT OF THE
AREA. WILL SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE DUE TO LACK OF TIME WHICH RESULTS IN
LOWERING HIGH TEMPS A CATEGORY OR SO. GFS SHOWS ANOTHER SHORT WAVE
DROPPING THRU QUICKLY SATURDAY EVENING...WHICH SHOULD BE ENUF TO
PRODUCE A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS ACROSS THE TN BORDER COUNTIES.
SUNDAY SHOULD BE QUIET WITH HIGH PRESSURE MOVING ALONG NRN GULF.

ALTHOUGH SOME MEMBERS OF THE MEDIUM RANGE ENSEMBLES ARE HINTING AT A
SHIFT IN THE PERSISTENT EASTERN TROUGH/WESTERN RIDGE PATTERN...
ENSEMBLE MEAN SUGGESTS BROAD CYCLONIC MID/UPPER FLOW WILL CONTINUE
TO DOMINATE ACROSS THE EASTERN U.S. DAYS 4-7. 00Z OPERATIONAL GFS
DIGS ANOTHER SOUTHERN STREAM SW TROUGH INTO THE SOUTHEAST DAYS
6-7...AND RESULTANT SURFACE DEVELOPMENT ALLOWS PRECIP TO SPREAD INTO
THE AREA DURING THIS TIME. ALTHOUGH CONFIDENCE IN MODELS ABILITY TO
HANDLE THESE DETAILS AT THIS RANGE IN THIS TYPE OF PATTERN IS LOW...
ENSEMBLE GUIDANCE AND NDFD COORDINATION SUGGESTS THAT MENTION OF
RAIN/SNOW IS JUSTIFIED MAINLY WED NIGHT AND THURS.

FCSTID =   10
GSP   27  37  15  36 / 100  10   0   0
AND   28  40  16  37 /  90  10   0   0
CLT   27  37  16  35 / 100  10  10   0
HKY   25  34  14  32 / 100  20  10   0
AVL   24  32  10  30 / 100  30  10   0

.GSP...
GA...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONES GAZ010...GAZ017.
     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONE GAZ018.

NC...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONES NCZ034>035-054>055.
     WINTER STORM WARNING FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONES
          NCZ033...NCZ048>053...NCZ058>059...NCZ062>065.
     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONES
          NCZ036>037-056>057-066>072.

SC...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONES SCZ001>003.
     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONES SCZ004>008.

MOORE/LANE

Hazardous weather outlook, Jan 16, 5:00 AM EST, 13 hours before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-161200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
500 AM EST THU JAN 16 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW IS IN EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON
AND TONIGHT IN THE MOUNTAINS. A WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR SNOW IS
IN EFFECT THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT IN THE FOOHTILLS AND PIEDMONT.
SEE THE WINTER STORM WARNING AND WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY PRODUCTS
FOR SPECIFIC DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

THERE IS A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS IN THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS
FRIDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY.

07

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy snow. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Snow, Rabun

When: January 16, 6:00 PM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where: Rabun forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 34.882, -83.402 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

Every storm in Georgia in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Georgia, January 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: 5339930.