North Carolina, 2003

Flood in North Carolina, April 10, 2003

April 10, 2003 · NWS GSP · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Moderate to heavy overnight rainfall resulted in flooding along creeks and streams which began during the morning and continued into the late evening. Significant flooding occurred along the South Fork of the Catawba River, while many smaller streams also overflowed their banks.

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.

Moderate to heavy overnight rainfall resulted in flooding along creeks and streams which began during the morning and continued into the late evening. Significant flooding occurred along the South Fork of the Catawba River, while many smaller streams also overflowed their banks.

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 Apr 10, 9:58 AM EST, 2 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 10, 9:58 AM EST, 2 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1058 AM EDT THU APR 10 2003

PCPN AMTS TODAY STILL EXPECTED TO BE MAXIMIZED ACRS MY NORTHERN
TIER COUNTIES COINCIDENT WITH BEST UPPER DIVERGENCE NORTH OF
UPPER LOW CENTER AND ALONG AXIS OF STRONG LOW/MID LVL WAA.
QUICK PEAK AT INCOMING ETA INDICATES 12HR PCPN UP TO 1.50
LIQUID ACRS THIS AREA. SO IN SHORT...DONT PLAN ON ANY CHANGES
TO GOING FLOOD WATCH...BUT WILL EMPHASIZE POTENTIALLY WORSE
CONDS ACRS THE NORTH.

LATEST LDS PLOT INDICATES STRIKES ACRS THE NC PIEDMONT AS CURRENTLY
ADVERTISED...BUT WILL EXPAND CHC T INTO THE FOOTHILLS AS STEEPER LAPSE
RATES DEVELOP WWD THIS AFTERNOON.

HIGHER ELEVATION SIGNIFICANT SNOW THREAT STILL ON TRACK WITH 12Z ETA
WBZ HEIGHTS ACTUALLY PROGGED TO RISE FROM 15 THRU 00Z TODAY DUE TO
THE WAA PATTERN. WHETHER THE MODEL IS ACTUALLY ACCOUNTING FOR STRONG
DYNAMIC COOLING OR NOT IS DEBATABLE...BUT HAVE RECENTLY RECEIVED
REPORTS OF SNOW NOTABLY LOWER THAN ETA PROGGED LVL AT 15Z. WE
DO HAVE MENTION OF RAIN/SNOW IN THE VALLEYS WHICH TECHNICALLY
IS CORRECT...BUT PROBABLY BEST TO NUDGE UP LOWER END OF ACCUMS.
ALSO...DO FEEL THAT SOME HIGH ELEVATIONS WILL EXCEED GOING 6
INCH FCST FOR TODAY BASED ON QPF & LIKELY REMAINING ALL SNOW.

FCSTID = 55
GSP   44  40  55  42 / 100  60  30  10
AND   43  41  56  42 / 100  60  30  10
CLT   44  40  55  43 / 100  70  40  10
HKY   42  39  53  41 / 100  70  40  10
AVL   42  37  46  38 / 100  70  30  10

.GSP...
GA...FLOOD WATCH FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT GAZ010-017>018-026-028>029.
     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT GAZ010.
NC...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT
      NCZ033-048>053-058>059-062>065.
     FLOOD WATCH FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT
      NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082.
SC...FLOOD WATCH FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT SCZ001>014-019.
     WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT SCZ001>003.
Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 10, 5:00 AM EST, 5 hours before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-101200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
600 AM EDT THU APR 10 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

DEEP LOW PRESSURE SPINNING OVER THE SOUTHEAST WILL BRING ABUNDANT
RAINFALL TO THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA THROUGH
TONIGHT. PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES MAY CREATE FLOODING
TODAY AND TONIGHT ON STREAMS AND RIVERS ACROSS THE AREA. A FLOOD
WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE ENTIRE AREA THROUGH TONIGHT. PLEASE
SEE THE PRODUCT FFAGSP FOR DETAILS ON THE FLOOD WATCH.

COLD AIR ALOFT UNDER THE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL FURTHER ALLOW SOME
OF THE PRECIPITATION TO CHANGE OVER TO SNOW AT THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS
OF THE MOUNTAINS. SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS WILL RANGE FROM AN INCH OR
LESS IN MOUNTAIN VALLEYS TO 6 TO 12 INCHES AT ELEVATIONS ABOVE 4000
FEET. PLEASE SEE THE WINTER STORM WARNING...WSWGSP...FOR FURTHER
DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO RELAY ANY FLOODING OR HEAVY SNOWFALL
REPORTS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

HG

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 10, 6:16 AM EST, 3 hours 44 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
716 AM EDT THU APR 10 2003

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

655 AM     COUNTYWIDE                NC   FLASH FLOOD
04/10/03   DAVIE                          COUNTY COMMUNICATIONS
                                          REPORTS 3 CREEKS OUT OF
                                          THEIR BANKS IN EASTERN
                                          DAVIE COUNTY.

HG
Local storm report, Apr 10, 6:37 AM EST, 3 hours 23 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
737 AM EDT THU APR 10 2003

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

705 AM     UNIONVILLE                NC   .88 INCH HAIL
04/10/03   UNION                          DEPUTY OBSERVED AND
                                          RELAYED REPORT THROUGH
                                          911

JONES

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Lincoln

When
April 10, 10:00 AM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where
Lincoln forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
35.486, -81.224 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

What these are

Flood
Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in North Carolina in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, April 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: 5353555.