1 heavy rain, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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 Wilmington, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 16, 2:15 PM EST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 315 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003 THE FORECAST AREA HAS BEEN SPARED FROM SEEING ANYTHING MORE THAN ISOLATED CONVECTION SO FAR THIS AFTERNOON...AS ONE SHORT WAVE DROPS SWRD INTO NE GA/NW SC AND THE OTHER TRACKS ACROSS NE NC. STILL FEEL THAT LOW CHANCE POPS ARE WARRANTED TONIGHT WITH ENOUGH MOISTURE AND LIFT IN PLACE. A COLD FRONT DROPS INTO THE CAROLINAS SUN AND SUN NIGHT AS THE ERN U.S. TROUGH ESTABLISHES ITSELF ONCE AGAIN. THE BEST CHANCE FOR PRECIPITATION APPEARS TO BE SUN AFTERNOON INTO SUN NIGHT WHEN THE REGION IS IN THE RIGHT REAR QUADRANT OF THE UPPER LEVEL JET...AND UVM...OMEGA AND ISENTROPIC LIFT IS AT ITS BEST. WILL CARRY 40-50 POPS. THE GFS HAS BEEN A BIT INCONSISTENT OVER THE PAST SEVERAL RUNS WITH THE PLACEMENT OF THE FRONT DURING THE FIRST PART OF NEXT WEEK. LATEST 12Z RUN IS BACK TO KEEPING THE BOUNDARY ALMOST RIGHT ALONG THE COAST INTO THU OF NEXT WEEK. ALTHOUGH DIFFICULT TO TIME THE IMPULSES TRANSVERSING THE UPPER LEVEL TROUGH...WILL CARRY CHANCE POPS THROUGH THE TIME PERIOD FOR MAINLY DIURNAL CONVECTION. THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW BECOMES A BIT MORE ZONAL FRI AND SAT...AND WILL DROP POPS DOWN INTO THE SLIGHT CHANCE CATEGORY. MARINE: LATEST VERSION OF THE GFS KEEPING FRONT EITHER INLAND OR JUST ALONG COAST THRU THU AM...IN CONTRAST TO EARLIER RUNS THAT WANTED TO PUSH THE FRONT WELL OFFSHORE. HOWEVER...THE ETA WANTS TO BRING THE FRONT OFFSHORE LATE MON. CONSIDERING THE TIME OF YEAR...PREFER THE LATEST AVN SOLN BETTER AND WILL ADJUST WIND DIRECTIONS ACCORDINGLY. WILL BE BUMPING UP WINDS/SEAS JUST A NOTCH FOR SUN AND SUN EVE AFTER CONSIDERING THE LATEST DATA. MAY SEE A SCEC FOR TOMORROW. FCSTID = 36 ILM 74 89 73 87 / 30 50 40 40 LBT 72 89 71 87 / 30 50 40 30 FLO 72 89 71 88 / 30 50 40 30 MYR 75 87 74 85 / 30 50 40 40 .ILM... .NC...NONE. .SC...NONE. PUBLIC: JAQ MARINE: KREITNER
NCZ087-096-097-099>101-SCZ017-023-024-032>034-039-046-161110- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 510 AM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEASTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND NORTHEASTERN SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY...HOWEVER THE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LIMITS. OTHERWISE...RIVER FLOOD WARNINGS REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR THE CAPE FEAR...GREAT PEE DEE...LITTLE PEE DEE AND LUMBER RIVERS. SEE THE LATEST RIVER FLOOD STATEMENTS ISSUED BY THE NWS WILMINGTON FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY A FEW STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE SUNDAY AND SUNDAY EVENING WITH WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS 30 MPH...SMALL HAIL AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. OTHERWISE...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY AND TONIGHT. SRP
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Four to five inches of rain fell in less than two hours, causing ponding. Eight city streets were closed.
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: 5333188.