2 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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.
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 Raleigh, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 16, 2:00 AM EST, 7 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 300 AM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003 HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE AREA WILL BE PUSHED WEST AS LONG WAVE TROUGH BUILDS DOWN THE ATLANTIC SEABOARD. NOT A BIG PUSH BEHIND THIS SYSTEM SO TROUGH WILL LINGER OVER THE AREA THROUGH AT LEAST MID-WEEK. WEAK LIFT... ABUNDANT MOISTURE AND HEAT OF THE DAY WILL BE ENOUGH TO KICKOFF A SHOWER OR TOO. AS FOR TODAY... THE PATCHY DENSE FOG MENTIONED IN THE FORECAST WILL BE DROPPED ON THE NEXT ISSUANCE. TROUGH WILL MOVE TO THE WESTERN PORTION OF THE CWA TODAY...THEN EAST TONIGHT...WHERE IT WILL BECOME NEARLY STATIONARY. WEAK LIGHT AND DISTURBANCES MOVING THROUGH THE TROUGH WILL GIVE US A CONTINUING EPISODE OF SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILD INTO THE AREA NEAR THE END OF THE FORECAST PERIOD TO PUSH LONG WAVE TROUGH EAST OF THE AREA. DRY CONDITIONS WILL RETURN. .RAH...NONE. RHJ
NCZ007>011-021>028-038>043-073>078-083>086-088-089-161150- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 554 AM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA. .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 WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT.
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 164 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:57 UTC.
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Many streets in Albemarle were flooded, with water getting into some businesses. Several water rescues were made along Highway 52.
Numerous evacuations were made due to flooding of homes and businesses, and many roads were flooded in Badin and New London.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, August 2003
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: 5377044, 5377045.