Georgia, 2003

Tornado in Georgia, May 6, 2003

May 6, 2003 · NWS GSP · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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
$3,000
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 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 May 6, 9:32 AM EST, 4 hours 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 6, 9:32 AM EST, 4 hours 13 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1032 AM EDT TUE MAY 6 2003

AT 14Z...CWFA LOOKS TO BE SOUTH OF MAIN SYNOPTIC SCALE BNDRY...WITH
SSW SFC WINDS AT MOST STATIONS. AMOUNT OF DESTABILIZATION THIS
AFTERNOON STILL QUITE UNCERTAIN WITH ENCROACHING CLDS AND PCPN
THANKS TO APPROACHING MCS. 12Z 850 MB ANALYSIS DOES INDICATE
A FAVORABLE THERMAL/MOISTURE PROFILE FOR DESTABILIZATION...ROUGHLY
ALONG NEW SPC DAY 1 SLT RISK...THRU NE GA...THE UPSTATE TO AROUND
CLT METRO. WILL UPDATE SVR WX OUTLOOK TO REFINE CURRENT THINKING...
FOR A THREAT A FEW LATE DAY OR EVENING SVR STORMS. WILL MENTION
THREAT OF BOTH DAMAGING WIND AND LARGE HAIL...BUT NOT TERRIBLY
IMPRESSED WITH PARAMETERS FOR EITHER OF THESE WITH HIGH WBZ
HEIGHTS AND LOW THETA-E LAPSES GIVEN MOIST SNDGS. ALSO PLAN ON
NOT MAKING CHGS TO GOING FLOOD WATCH ALTHOUGH OBVIOUS SHORT
TERM THREAT WILL REMAIN LIMITED TO THE MOUNTAINS GIVEN LARGE
SCALE PATTERN OF BROAD WSW FLOW.

FCSTID = 55
GSP   78  63  82  62 /  90  40  40  40
AND   79  63  83  61 /  90  40  40  40
CLT   80  62  83  62 /  90  40  40  40
HKY   76  61  80  61 / 100  40  40  40
AVL   73  58  78  57 / 100  50  50  40

.GSP...
GA...FLOOD WATCH FOR TODAY GAZ010-017>018-GAZ026-GAZ028>029.
NC...FLOOD WATCH FOR TODAY NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082.
SC...FLOOD WATCH FOR TODAY SCZ001>014-019.
Hazardous weather outlook, May 6, 3:40 AM EST, 10 hours 5 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-061100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
440 AM EDT TUE MAY 6 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE TODAY...SOME WITH
TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. SOME MAY BECOME
SEVERE...ESPECIALLY LATE AFTERNOON THROUGH EVENING.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY TODAY.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 6, 9:47 AM EST, 3 hours 58 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-062100-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1047 AM EDT TUE MAY 6 2003

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE LATER TODAY OR TONIGHT...

WIDESPREAD RAIN WITH A FEW EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE
TO MOVE ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA
INTO THE EARLY AFTERNOON HOURS. THIS COVERAGE OF PRECIPITATION WILL
SLOW WARMING AND DEGREE OF DESTABILIZATION. RAIN IS EXPECTED TO
DIMINISH LATER THIS AFTERNOON...POSSIBLY FOLLOWED BY SOME CLEARING.
IF RAIN ENDS AND CLEARING OCCURS SOON ENOUGH...THE ATMOSPHERE COULD
BECOME UNSTABLE ENOUGH TO SUPPORT SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT...
WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND BEING THE BIGGEST THREAT.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA OUTLET FOR
THE LATEST UPDATES CONCERNING THIS POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER
SITUATION.

FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION...CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT
WWW.ERH.NOAA.GOV/GSP
Local storm report, May 6, 1:20 PM EST, 25 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
220 PM EDT TUE MAY 06 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

203 PM     SANDY CROSS               GA   TORNADO
05/06/03   FRANKLIN                       EOC REPORTED TORNADO
                                          TOUCHED DOWN NEAR SANDY
                                          SPRINGS ON HWY 51 AT
                                          BRAYS LAKE. BUILDING
                                          LEVELED AND TREES DOWN.

TJB
Local storm report, May 6, 1:20 PM EST, 25 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
220 PM EDT TUE MAY 06 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

203 PM     SANDY CROSS               GA   TORNADO
05/06/03   FRANKLIN                       EOC REPORTED TORNADO
                                          TOUCHED DOWN NEAR SANDY
                                          CROSS ON HWY 51 AT BRAYS
                                          LAKE. BUILDING LEVELED,
                                          COUPLE OTHER HOMES DAMAGED,
                                          AND TREES DOWN.

TJB
Local storm report, May 6, 1:36 PM EST, 9 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
236 PM EDT TUE MAY 06 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

228 PM     5 S HARTWELL              GA   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/06/03   HART                           911 REPORTED GOLFBALL
                                          HAIL ON COKESBURY HWY IN
                                          SOUTHERN HART COUNTY.

JMP

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 94 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:44 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Elbert

When
May 6, 1:45 PM EST to 1:57 PM EST
Where
Elbert County, 3 mi NW of Ruckersville
Rating
F1
Path length
6 mi
Path width
50 yd
Property damage
$3,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
34.200, -82.817

This tornado blew down numerous trees and power lines in areas from highway 368, to Ruckersville, to Russell Lake. The most concentrated damage occurred near highway 368.

What these are

Tornado
A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in Georgia in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Georgia, 2003Warnings in Georgia, May 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: 5357258.