North Carolina, 2003

Flood in North Carolina, April 10, 2003

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

An extended period of moderate to heavy rainfall resulted in gradual rises on creeks and streams, culminating in flooding along numerous creeks and streams, including the Johns River. Lower Creek flooded part of a mall parking lot in Lenoir.

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.

An extended period of moderate to heavy rainfall resulted in gradual rises on creeks and streams, culminating in flooding along numerous creeks and streams, including the Johns River. Lower Creek flooded part of a mall parking lot in Lenoir. As the rainfall continued, flooding became more widespread during the afternoon and evening, including along Kings Creek, and in areas around Collettsville. A landslide closed a portion of highway 321 south of Blowing Rock.

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, 11:33 AM EST, 1 hour 27 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 10, 11:33 AM EST, 1 hour 27 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1233 PM EDT THU APR 10 2003

WELL...CONVECTIVE ELEMENTS HAVE CERTAINLY DONE A JOB AT KEEPING
SNOW LEVELS QUITE LOW...ALL THE WAY TO VALLEY FLOORS FROM THE
I-40 CORRIDOR AND POINTS NORTHEAST. FOR WHAT IT IS WORTH...THE
12Z GFS WBZ HEIGHT WAS ALSO TOO HIGH...PROGGED TO BE ON THE
ORDER OF 3500 FT ALL DAY. PLAN TO UP LOWER ELEVATION AMTS
ACRS NC MTNS INTO 2-4 RANGE FROM HAYWOOD-TRANS COUNTIES
NE...AND EMPHASIZE MORE SNOW ACRS THE NC FOOTHILLS.

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, 8 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

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Caldwell

When
April 10, 1:00 PM EST to 9:00 PM EST
Where
Caldwell forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT

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: 5353557.