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 23, 1:30 PM EST, 2 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 230 PM EDT SAT AUG 23 2003 SATELLITE AND SFC ANALYSIS SHOWS THE FRONT OVER NE NC...LOOPING NORTH INTO W.VA...AND STRETCHING ACROSS KY. ETA HANDLING THE FRONT SLOWER THAN PREVIOUS RUNS...WITH FROPA TAKING PLACE TONIGHT. LAPS CAPE ANALYSIS IS SHOWING CAPES ACTUALLY DECREASE OVER THE PIEDMONT AS DWPTS MIX OUT. HOWEVER...WILL STILL PLAN ON CONVECTION TO FIRE OVER THE RIDGETOPS AND IN THE LEE OF MOUNTAINS WHERE MOISTURE CONVERGENCE REMAINS THE BEST. WILL HANG ONTO THE POPS UNTIL 6Z...GIVING THE FRONT TIME TO INITIATE ANY CONVECTION AS IT WORKS THROUGH...SCHC AFTER 6Z. THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR A FEW OF THE TS TO BECOME SEVERE AS DRY AIR WORKING OVER THE AREA MAY ENCOURAGE THE DOWNBURST POTENTIAL. CAD-LIKE SYSTEM WILL BUILD OVER THE FA TONIGHT AS HIGH MOVES OVER THE MID-ATLANTIC. LLVL MESOETA MOISTURE FIELDS ARE HIGH BUT NOT VERY THICK AND UNIFORM. WILL PLAN ON SOME CLOUDS TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH THIS FEATURE AND WILL KEEP TEMPS WITHIN A MOS COMPROMISE. LLVL MOISTURE WILL LINGER DURING THE DAYTIME SUNDAY...WILL EXPECT THE CLOUDS TO EVENTUALLY MIX OUT...AND WILL ADVERTISE AS PARTLY CLOUDY. WITH NE FLOW AND SOME CLOUD COVER WILL FAVOR THE COOLER OF THE MOS GUIDANCE. MONDAY...ATMOS REMAINS RATHER DRY AND MOISTURE CONVERGENCE LOOKS WEAK...PLAN VIEW CAPE DO REACH LEVEL >1K. WILL USE POPS CLOSE TO MOS GUIDANCE AND WILL WARM TEMPS OVER SUNDAY. H5 RIDGE MIGRATES EASTWARD...BECOMING CENTERED OVER THE SE US BY TUESDAY. RIDGE WILL REMAIN IN PLACE THRU THURSDAY PM...HEIGHTS WILL FALL SAT AS FRONT APPROACHES. WILL INCREASE TEMPS A FEW CLICKS...IN AGREEMENT WITH MEX ENSEMBLES AND HPC GUIDANCE. WILL FAVOR DIURNAL CONVECTION AS HOT...HUMID...AND UNSTABLE AIR MASS SHOULD INITIATE AT PEAK HEATING AND WILL EXPECT ACTIVITY TO SURVIVE INTO THE EVENING. WILL INCREASE POPS ON SAT AS COLD FRONT PUSHES INTO THE FA FROM THE NW...POPS WILL AGAIN FAVOR THE HIGHER TERRAIN. FCSTID = 16 GSP 70 86 68 90 / 30 10 10 10 AND 71 88 70 90 / 30 10 10 10 CLT 69 85 67 90 / 30 10 10 10 HKY 66 84 66 88 / 30 10 10 10 AVL 64 83 63 86 / 30 10 10 10 .GSP... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. NED
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-231200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 603 AM EDT SAT AUG 23 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA... UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE FROM NORTH TO SOUTH THROUGH THE DAY...ASSISTING IN PRODUCING SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS. SOME OF THE STORMS COULD BE SEVERE. SEE THE LATEST SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK...UNDER THE WMO PIL CAESPSGSP...FOR SPECIFIC DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... ANOTHER COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH FOR MIDWEEK...WITH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED AT SOME TIME TODAY. SAB
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-232100- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 1044 AM EDT SAT AUG 23 2003 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING... A COLD FRONT WILL DROP SOUTH ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA THROUGH EARLY EVENING. THE ATMOSPHERE IS FORECAST TO BECOME QUITE UNSTABLE LATER THIS AFTERNOON JUST AHEAD OF THE FRONTAL PASSAGE. AS THE FRONT SAGS SOUTH...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP...WITH A FEW OF THESE STORMS POSSIBLY BECOMING SEVERE. THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER THREAT TODAY WILL BE DAMAGING WIND GUSTS ...POSSIBLY AS HIGH AS 70 MPH...AND TO A LESSER EXTENT LARGE HAIL. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA OUTLET FOR THE LATEST UPDATES CONCERNING THIS POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER SITUATION. 55
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
1144 AM EDT SAT AUG 23 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
440 PM 1N KINGS MOUNTAIN NC WIND DAMAGE
08/22/03 CLEVELAND SEVERAL TREES DOWN ON
COUNTY LINE ROAD REPORTED
BY COUNTY EMERGENCY
MANAGEMENT OFFICALS.
445 PM 2 W BESSEMER CITY NC WIND DAMAGE
08/22/03 GASTON A LINE OF TREES DOWN ON
CHESTNUT RIDGE CHURCH
ROAD REPORTED BY COUNTY
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT
OFFICIALS.
430 PM KINGS MOUNTAIN NC LIGHTNING
08/22/03 CLEVELAND ***INJURED 1, DEAD 0***
PERSON HIT BY LIGHTNING.
TRANSPORTED TO AREA
HOSPITAL IN GOOD
CONDITION.
KRENTZThe Greer radar (KGSP), 78 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:28 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a manufacturing plant, causing significant damage.
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: 5333300.