Lightning, Macon
- When
- August 31, 2:00 PM EST
- Where
- Macon County, Highlands
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Reported by
- NEWSPAPER
- Coordinates
- 35.150, -83.422 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Lightning ignited a fire at a house.
Lightning Strike in North Carolina, August 31, 2003
1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Where it happened
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.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- $10,000
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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 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 31, 11:30 AM EST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 31, 11:30 AM EST, 2 hours 30 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 1230 PM EDT SUN AUG 31 2003 ISSUING AN UPDATE TO BRING POPS UP TO LIKELY ALONG THE INTERSTATE 85 CORRIDOR. LOWERED THE MAXIMUM TEMPERTURE A COUPLE OF DEGREES ACROSS THE SAME AREA AS WELL WHILE OPENING A RANGE GENERALLY IN THE MID 80S. .GSP... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. OUTLAW
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 31, 4:48 AM EST, 9 hours 12 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-311145- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 548 AM EDT SUN AUG 31 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA... UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY IN THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...WITH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED IN THE FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED FROM MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED FRIDAY AND SATURDAY ALONG AND EAST OF INTERSTATE 77. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. 07
The radar
The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 113 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:01 UTC.
Event by event
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- 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
- Rip Current in Florida, August 31, 2003
- Flash Flood in Kansas, August 31, 2003
- Rip Current in Florida, August 31, 2003
- Rip Current in Florida, August 31, 2003
- Rip Current in Alabama, August 31, 2003
- Lightning Strike in Georgia, August 31, 2003
- Heavy Rain in North Carolina, August 31, 2003
- Flash Flooding and Lightning Strike in North Carolina, August 31, 2003
- Lightning Strike in North Carolina, August 31, 2003
- Tornado and Damaging Wind in Illinois, August 31, 2003
- Damaging Wind in Louisiana, August 31, 2003
- Flash Flooding in Texas, August 31, 2003
More
Every storm in North Carolina in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings 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: 5333303.