Flash Flood and Lightning Strike in North Carolina, August 14, 2003

Name: Flash Flood and Lightning Strike in North Carolina, August 14, 2003
Start: 2003-08-14T17:15
End: 2003-08-14T23:00
Location: North Carolina

August 14, 2003 · NWS GSP · 2 events in 1 county or zone

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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: $30,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

Flash flooding developed first in Indian Trail on the evening of the 14th, and quickly expanded to Weddington and Stallings. Twelve Mile Creek, which is normally 2 feet wide, overflowed its banks and expanded to a width of 50 feet, flooding Forest Lawn Dr. Numerous homes were threatened by flood water, and 16 homes received at least minor water damage. Some motorists and residents required rescue from their vehicles and homes. Several homes were also struck by lightning.

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 14, 1:26 PM EST, 3 hours 49 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 14, 1:26 PM EST, 3 hours 49 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
226 PM EDT THU AUG 14 2003

UPPER LEVEL RIDGE TO CONTINUE RETROGRESSION...WITH ANOTHER EAST
COAST TROUGH BEING CARVED OUT BY SHORTWAVES BY SAT. IMPULSE DROPPING
S ACROSS AREA THIS EVENING. BEST INSTABILITY E...BUT OROGRAPHIC
EFFECTS ALREADY RESULTING IN CONVECTION W. PLENTY OF DEEP MOISTURE
TO WORK WITH. AREA BETWEEN IMPULSES FRI...WITH MID LEVELS DRIER.
INSTABILITY AGAIN BEST IN E. A SLIGHTLY STRONGER IMPULSE CROSSES
AREA SAT...WITH DEEP MOISTURE BACK IN PLACE. STRONG SHORTWAVE
CROSSES AREA SUN ACCOMPANIED BY SURFACE COLD FRONT...WITH MID LEVELS
DRYING AGAIN.

WILL CARRY CHANCE POPS EACH AFTERNOON AND EVENING. TEMPERATURES
INITIALLY WARM UNDER UPPER RIDGE...THEN COOLING A COUPLE OF DEGREES
AS HEIGHTS FALL IN DIGGING TROUGH.

EXTENDED FORECAST STARTS WITH DEEP TROUGH IN PLACE ALONG
APPALACHIANS. BY MID TO LATE WEEK A LOW IN THE BASE OF THE TROUGH
MOVES OFF TO NE...WITH ANOTHER SHORTWAVE RIGHT BEHIND IT IN BRIEFLY
ZONAL FLOW. COLD FRONT TO STALL AND WASH OUT OVER AREA EARLY NEXT
WEEK...LEAVING BAND OF MOISTURE ACROSS AREA INTO LATE WEEK.
TEMPERATURES NEAR NORMAL BETWEEN NEW E COAST TROUGH AND FLAT RIDGE
TO S.

FCSTID = 07

GSP 71 90 71 88 / 40 30 30 30
AND 72 91 72 89 / 40 30 30 30
CLT 69 89 70 88 / 40 30 30 30
HKY 68 86 68 86 / 40 30 30 30
AVL 66 83 65 83 / 40 30 30 30

.GSP...
GA...NONE.
NC...NONE.
SC...NONE.

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 14, 3:39 AM EST, 13 hours 36 minutes before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-141045-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
439 AM EDT THU AUG 14 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.

DICARLO

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 14, 5:05 PM EST, 10 minutes before

NCZ071-082-SCZ009-014-142315-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
605 PM EDT THU AUG 14 2003

...THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING CONTINUOUS LIGHTNING AND TORRENTIAL
RAIN...

AT 600 PM EDT...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LARGE CLUSTER OF
THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM STURDIVANTS TO MONROE AND MATHEWS AND
INTO THE WESTERN SUBURBS OF CHARLOTTE. THE STORMS WERE MOVING
SOUTHWEST AT 25 MPH. THESE STORMS WERE PRODUCING AN UNUSUAL AMOUNT OF
CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING....AS WELL AS VERY HEAVY RAIN AND WINDS
GUSTING TO AROUND 40 MPH. IF THE STORMS HOLD TOGETHER...THEY WILL
AFFECT AREAS FROM LAKE WYLIE TO ROCK HILL AND FORT LAWN BETWEEN 630
AND 7 PM.

MCAVOY

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 128 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:14 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Union

When: August 14, 5:15 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Union County, Weddington
Property damage: $20,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 34.988, -80.531 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Lightning, Union

When: August 14, 5:15 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Union County, Weddington
Property damage: $10,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 34.988, -80.531 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in North Carolina in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5374364, 5374365.