North Carolina, 2003

Flash Flood in North Carolina, August 10, 2003

August 10, 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
$10,000
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 Aug 10, 4:55 PM EST, 1 hour 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 10, 4:55 PM EST, 1 hour 50 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
555 PM EDT SUN AUG 10 2003

A QUICK UPDATE TO THE FORECAST GRIDS AND TEXT PRODUCTS TO ACCOUNT
FOR RADAR TRENDS. MAINLY...THE POP WILL BE INCREASED ACROSS THE
FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT FOR THE EVENING HOURS. SOME TEMPS ARE ALSO
ADJUSTED DOWN A FEW DEGREES WHERE ZONE GROUPINGS HAVE BEEN SPLIT.
MOST OF THE CONVECTION SHOULD END BY MIDNIGHT...BUT SCATTERED
CONVECTION SHOULD PERSIST ONCE AGAIN INTO THE EARLY AM. WILL
EVALUATE FORECAST AGAIN IN MID EVENING.

GSP...
GA...NONE.
NC...FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONES NCZ034>035...NCZ054>056.
SC...NONE.

MOORE

...PREVIOUS DISCUSSION ISSUED AT 155 PM...
FREEZING LEVEL A BIT LOWER WITH SLIGHTLY DRYER AIR MOVING IN AT MID
LEVELS. UPPER TROF STILL SPINNING WEAK VORT LOBES THRU AREA AND
EXPECT ANOTHER ROUND OF AT LEAST SCT TSTMS THROUGH THIS EVE. NOT
MUCH CHANGE IN THE PATTERN FOR THE NEXT COUPLE DAYS...THEN THE S
PART OF THE UPPER TROF THAT HAS BEEN KEEPING THE SE U.S. IN MOIST
UNSTABLE FLOW IS FCST TO CUT OFF AND MOVE W...WITH THE N PART
FILLING. AS THIS HAPPENS THE BERMUDA HIGH WILL PUSH INTO THE AREA
TOWARD MID WEEK. THERE WILL STILL BE A LOW CHANCE OF LATE DAY
TSTMS...BUT COVERAGE SHOULD BE LESS. GFS STILL HINTING AT A TROPICAL
WAVE APPROACHING THE FAR SE U.S. BY THE LATTER HALF OF THE
WEEK...WHICH COULD AFFECT WEATHER HERE NEXT WEEKEND OR LATER.

FCSTID = 77
GSP   67  85  67  86 /  50  40  40  30
AND   67  86  68  86 /  50  40  40  30
CLT   67  85  67  86 /  50  40  40  30
HKY   64  84  65  85 /  60  50  50  30
AVL   62  81  63  82 /  60  50  50  30

RB
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 10, 5:21 AM EST, 13 hours 24 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-101215-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
621 AM EDT SUN AUG 10 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT TODAY AND TONIGHT IN THE NORTHERN
FOOTHILLS OF NORTH CAROLINA...FROM MCDOWELL COUNTY TO CALDWELL
COUNTY...AND IN ALEXANDER AND CATAWBA COUNTIES. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS
AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

THUNDERSTORMS ARE IN THE FORECAST FOR MOST OF THE AREA THROUGH NEXT
SUNDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.

07

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 10, 2:28 PM EST, 4 hours 17 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
328 PM EDT SUN AUG 10 2003

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

320 PM     TIGER                     GA   1/2 INCH HAIL
08/10/03   RABUN                          EMERGENCY PERSONNEL
                                          REPORTED BETWEEN PEA AND
                                          DIME SIZE HAIL.

RB

The radar

The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 146 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:45 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Iredell

When
August 10, 6:45 PM EST to 10:00 PM EST
Where
Iredell County, Mooresville
Property damage
$10,000
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
35.807, -80.873 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Severe urban flooding developed during the evening, with water entering the basements of some homes. By late in the evening, many roads were covered with 2 to 3 feet of water.

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

More

Every storm in North Carolina in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, August 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: 5374360.