Flash Flood in Georgia, October 8, 2003

Name: Flash Flood in Georgia, October 8, 2003
Start: 2003-10-08T11:00
End: 2003-10-08T14:00
Location: Georgia

October 8, 2003 · NWS GSP · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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: $5,000
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 Oct 8, 10:46 AM EST, 14 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 8, 10:46 AM EST, 14 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1145 AM EDT WED OCT  8 2003

.DISCUSSION...
LITTLE CHANGE FROM THE EARLIER UPDATE. WEAK DEFORMATION ZONE AND
STEEP LAPSE RATES ARE RESULTING IN BROKEN AREA OF PCPN AND A FEW
THUNDERSTORMS OVER MUCH OF THE CENTRAL PART OF THE CWA. PCPN IS
BEGINNING TO EXPAND OVER THE EASTERN ZONES WHERE LIFT IS STRONGER.
HOWEVER...PCPN AREA THAT HAS PERSISTED FOR HOURS NOW OVER THE GA/SC
BORDER COUNTIES IS ONLY SLOWLY WEAKENING. IN FACT...WHILE RAINFALL
RATES HAVE DECREASED SOME...AREAL COVERAGE OF THIS AREA OF RAIN IS
ALSO INCREASING.
&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
GSP 64 56 69 56 / 90 60 40 40
AND 65 56 71 58 / 90 40 30 30
CLT 64 56 68 57 / 90 70 40 40
HKY 60 54 66 56 / 80 80 60 50
AVL 60 52 66 54 / 70 60 40 40
&&

.GSP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
GA...NONE.
NC...NONE.
SC...NONE.
&&
MCAVOY

Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 8, 4:00 AM EST, 7 hours before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-081100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
500 AM EDT WED OCT 8 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 8, 6:12 AM EST, 4 hours 48 minutes before

GAZ018-026-028-029-SCZ004-005-010-011-081400-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
712 AM EDT WED OCT 8 2003

AT 705 AM...WEATHER RADAR SHOWED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MOVING
SLOWLY NORTHWARD ACROSS EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA...EXTREME NORTHEAST
GEORGIA AND EXTREME WESTERN SOUTH CAROLINA. THE HEAVIEST RAIN HAD
FALLEN ACROSS HART AND NORTHERN ELBERT COUNTIES IN EXTREME NORTHEEAST
GEORGIA...WHERE RADAR ESTIMATED AS MUCH AS TWO INCHES OF RAIN HAD
FALLEN IN THE PREDAWN HOURS.

THROUGH MID MORNING...EXPECT HEAVY RAIN TO OVERSPREAD LOCATIONS FROM
ELBERTON AND HARTWELL...NORTH AND EAST TO ABBEVILLE AND ANDERSON...AS
WELL AS PICKENS AND CLEMSON. RAINFALL COULD BE ENOUGH TO CAUSE
PONDING OF WATER ON ROADS...AND IN POOR DRAINAGE AREAS.

WITH THE RECENT LACK OF RAINFALL...THE GROUND OVER NORTHEAST GEORGIA
AND WESTERN SOUTH CAROLINA HAS BECOME HARD IN SOME AREAS. AS HEAVY
RAIN FALLS ONTO THE HARD GROUND...RUNOFF INTO STREAMS AND CREEKS WILL
BE MAXIMIZED IN SOME LOCATIONS.

BY MID MORNING...THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL SHOULD SHIFT NORTHWARD TOWARD
GREENVILLE...SPARTANBURG AND THE SOUTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR THE MEDIA FOR THE LATEST
INFORMATION CONCERNING THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 102 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 15:57 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Elbert

When: October 8, 11:00 AM EST to 2:00 PM EST
Where: Elbert County, 10 mi N of Elberton
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: DEPT OF HIGHWAYS
Coordinates: 34.117, -82.840 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

As much as 6 inches of rain fell across northern Elbert County during the morning hours, which resulted in significant flash flooding across the area by early afternoon. Portions of several roads were washed out, as were some culverts. Other roads were blocked for some time due to flooded creeks.

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

Every storm in Georgia in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in Georgia, October 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: 5372323.