1 lightning, 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 Greenville-Spartanburg, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 18, 9:29 PM EST, 51 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 1029 PM EDT MON AUG 18 2003 WHAT A DIFFERENCE TWO HOURS CAN MAKE IN THE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG CWFA. A CLUSTER OF SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS NOW DOMINATING THE LANDSCAPE...WITH RAINFALL RATES OF GREATER THAN AN INCH PER HOUR OVER PICKENS...GREENVILLE...WESTERN SPARTANBURG AND NORTHERN ANDERSON COUNTIES. A NUMBER OF FACTORS CONTRIBUTING: LATENT INSTABILITY FROM DAYTIME HEATING...COLDER AND DRIER AIR ALOFT MOVING IN AHEAD OF A VORT DROPPING SOUTH OVER THE CENTRAL CAROLINAS AND NUMEROUS OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES FROM UPSTREAM CONVECTION EARLIER. WILL RAISE CENTRAL UPSTATE TO CATEGORICAL THROUGH LATE TONIGHT. SURROUNDING THIS WILL BE LIKELY POPS TO THE SOUTH...HIGH CHANCE FOR OCONEE AND THE FOOTHILLS OF NORTHEAST GEORGIA...WITH CHANCE POPS REST OF THE NIGHT FOR NORTH CAROLINA FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT. KGSP 88-D SHOWS SCATTERED CONVECTION CONTINUING TO DEVELOP EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE ESCARPMENT. MEANWHILE...CONVECTION APPEARS DONE FOR THE OVERNIGHT ACROSS THE HIGHER TERRAIN OF NORTH CAROLINA...MUCH REMOVED FROM THE BETTER FORCING IN THE FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT...SO WILL REMOVE POPS COMPLETELY FROM THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS. DEWPOINTS HAVE SURGED INTO THE MIDDLE 70S FOR MOST OF THE UPSTATE AND SOUTHERN NORTH CAROLINA. AS SKIES CLEAR TONITE...WE MAY GET SOME PATCHY DENSE FOG...ESPECIALLY IN THE CENTRAL UPSTATE COUNTIES CURRENTLY EXPERIENCING THE HEAVIER RAIN. FOR NOW...WILL LIMIT PATCHY DENSE FOG WORDING TO THOSE 4 COUNTIES. MIDNIGHT SHIFT WILL HAVE TO MONITOR ALL OF THE FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT FOR POTENTIAL DENSE FOG ADVISORY LATER TONIGHT. FCSTID = 44 GSP 72 88 67 88 / 80 30 30 20 AND 73 89 68 89 / 60 20 20 20 CLT 71 88 68 89 / 30 20 20 20 HKY 68 87 66 86 / 30 30 30 20 AVL 63 84 63 84 / 10 30 30 20 .GSP... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. BURRUS
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-181115- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 528 AM EDT MON AUG 18 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA... UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY A COLD FRONT WILL SAG SLOWLY SOUTH THROUGH THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA TODAY. ISOLATED TO WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG THIS FEATURE DURING THE AFTERNOON. A COUPLE OF THESE STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE...WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL BEING THE PRIMARY THREATS. LOCALIZED HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLASH FLOODING WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... ISOLATED TO WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE FROM TIME TO TIME OVER THE NEXT 7 DAYS...WITH THE BEST CHANCES OCCURRING LATE IN THE WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. LANE
SCZ002-003-005>007-010-190215- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 932 PM EDT MON AUG 18 2003 ...THUNDERSTORMS WITH TORRENTIAL RAIN AFFECTING THE CITY OF GREENVILLE... A CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WILL CONTINUE TO DRIFT SLOWLY TO THE SOUTH ACROSS THE GREENVILLE METRO AREA THROUGH 1015 PM. AREAS FROM GREER TO GREENVILLE AND EASLEY WILL SEE IN EXCESS OF AN INCH OF RAIN WITH THESE STORMS...WITH A FEW SPOTS PICKING UP AS MUCH AS TWO INCHES IN AN HOURS TIME. GUSTY WINDS AND OCCASIONAL CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING WILL ALSO OCCUR. PONDING OF WATER IN POOR DRAINAGE AREAS AND IN LOW SPOTS WILL DEVELOP. IF THE HEAVY RAIN PERSISTS OVER DOWNTOWN GREENVILLE...URBAN FLOODING WILL BEGIN TO DEVELOP. MCAVOY
SCZ001-002-004-005-010-190400- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 1105 PM EDT MON AUG 18 2003 ...THUNDERSTORMS WITH TORRENTIAL RAIN MOVING INTO THE WESTERN PART OF THE UPSTATE... AT 1100 PM EDT...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM NEAR SIX MILE IN PICKENS COUNTY TO NEAR WILLIAMSTON IN ANDERSON COUNTY. THE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE SOUTHWEST AT AROUND 20 MPH. THROUGH MIDNIGHT...THE STORMS WILL AFFECT AREAS FROM LAKE KEOWEE TO PENDLETON AND ANDERSON...WITH THE STRONGEST PART OF THE LINE AFFECTING SANDY SPRINGS. THE STRONGER STORMS IN THE LINE WILL PRODUCE FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING... 40 MPH WINDS AND RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES IN AN HOUR. MCAVOY
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a house, blowing out 2 windows.
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: 5333297.