7 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 7 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 4, 12:45 PM EST, 7 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 145 PM EDT MON AUG 4 2003 CURRENT SURFACE HEATING AND THE ADVECTION OF UPPER LEVEL COOLING AND DRYING SHOULD DESTABILIZE MIDLEVELS SIGNIFICANTLY HEADING INTO THIS EVENING. A SHORT WAVE ALOFT IN EASTERN AL WITH JET ACCELERATION AND COLD POCKET NOTED IN AIRCRAFT DATA NEAR ATLANTA IS PROJECTED TO MOVE NORTHEAST ENTERING THE WESTERN RAH CWA NEAR 00Z AND EXITING BY 05Z. DEEP CONVECTION...THOUGH SCATTERED IN COVERAGE....SHOULD BE ENERGIZED BY THE DYNAMICS ALOFT THIS EVENING. POPS WILL RANGE IN THE 50-60 PERCENT RANGE MAINLY FOR THE EARLY NIGHTTIME HOURS. LITTLE CHANGE FROM GUIDANCE EXPECTED IN TEMPERATURES. TUESDAY...THE HIGH AMPLITUDE TROUGH WITH COOL DRY AIR ALOFT AND STEEP MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES SHOULD ENERGIZE DEEP CONVECTION IN THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. DRIER AIR IN THE COLUMN SHOULD MEAN A GREATER SPACING IN CONVECTIVE CELLS WITH DRY SINKING AIR BETWEEN. LOWER WET BULB ZEROS...GREATER DOWNDRAFT CAPE...AND SOMEWHAT STRONGER MID LEVEL FLOW SIGNALS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE HAIL OR WIND. TUE NIGHT...LOSS OF HEATING SHOULD DISSIPATE MOST CONVECTIVE CELLS FOR A SLIGHT CHANCE OR NO CHANCE POP. WED...MODELS CONTINUE TO SUGGEST A SHORT WAVE ROUNDING THE BASE OF THE HIGH AMPLITUDE TROUGH WITH THE GFS CONTINUING WITH A MORE AGGRESSIVE PATTERN OF DEEP SATURATION AND LIFT. CHANCE CATEGORY POPS ARE FAVORED FAVORING GFS BUT COMPROMISING SLIGHTLY TOWARD THE DRIER ETA. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO GUIDANCE TEMPERATURES EXPECTED. -RFG WED EVENING-THU: LATEST ETA/GFS/UKMET ALL HAVE A SURFACE LOW TRACKING JUST W OF THE CWA WED NIGHT/EARLY THU WITH AN 850 MB SPEED MAX OVER ERN NC. WILL UP POPS TO 50% EAST/40% WEST... TAPERING OFF LATE. SLIGHTLY DRIER AIR WORKS INTO THE WRN CWA FOR THU SO WILL HAVE THE HIGHER DIURNAL CHANCE POPS IN THE EAST & LOW CHANCE IN THE WEST. FRI-MON: VORT MAX DROPPING OUT OF THE ONTARIO LOW AND WAVE DROPPING DOWN THE E SIDE OF THE WRN PLAINS RIDGE DIG THE TROUGH ENOUGH TO CLOSE A LOW OVER E TN BY SAT. OP GFS MAY BE TOO INTENSE WITH THE LOW BUT MOST OTHER MODELS AGREE ON A DEEPENING OF THE TROUGH TO OUR W... WHICH KEEPS CENTRAL NC IN A WET PATTERN. ONLY MINOR CHANGES IF ANY TO EXISTING MAINLY DIURNAL POPS. WILL STICK WITH HIGH TEMPS ABOUT A CATEGORY BELOW NORMAL. -GIH .RAH...NONE. RFG
NCZ007>011-021>028-038>043-073>078-083>086-088-089-041120- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 525 AM EDT MON AUG 4 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BECOMING NUMEROUS ACROSS THE PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA THIS AFTERNOON...AND SPREAD EAST INTO THE COASTAL PLAIN THIS EVENING. SOME OF THE STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE...PRODUCING DAMAGING WIND GUSTS AND POSSIBLY SOME LARGE HAIL. MANY OF THE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN...WHICH MAY CAUSE LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING...AS WELL AS INTENSE CLOUD-TO-GROUND LIGHTNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER NETWORK ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THE GREATEST THREAT FOR SEVERE WEATHER AND FLASH FLOODING IN THE TRIAD AND TRIANGLE AREAS APPEARS TO BE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. THE THREAT FOR THE FAYETTEVILLE AREA WILL LIKELY BE THIS EVENING TO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS.
NCZ021>023-038>040-073>076-083-084-086-050050- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 759 PM EDT MON AUG 4 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER THE WESTERN PIEDMONT AND SANDHILLS... SEVERAL STRONG THUNDERSTORMS... WITH FREQUENT LIGHTNING... AND AND HEAVY RAIN... WERE DEVELOPING RAPIDLY AT 755 PM. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER ALBEMARLE TO BADIN LAKE IN NORTHEAST STANLY COUNTY... AND OVER MARTHA IN SOUTHWEST RANDOLPH COUNTY. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. ADDITIONAL STRONG STORMS WERE MOVING INTO STANLY COUNTY FROM CABARRUS COUNTY. THESE STORMS WILL BE ARRIVING IN THE LOCUST... STANFIELD... AND OAKBORO AREAS BETWEEN 810 AND 820 PM. VERY HEAVY RAIN AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING WILL OCCUR OVER STANLY COUNTY THROUGH AROUND 900 PM. THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP RAPIDLY NORTHEAST IN A LINE TOWARD ASHEBORO... LIBERTY... CLIMAX AND SNOW CAMP BEFORE 830 PM. THIS FAVORED AREA FOR STRONG STORM DEVELOPMENT WILL EXTEND FROM ANSON COUNTY AND STANLY COUNTY... NORTHEAST THROUGH RANDOLPH... MONTGOMERY... EASTERN GUILFORD... ALAMANCE... CHATHAM... LEE... AND MOORE COUNTIES. FREQUENT LIGHTNING... VERY HEAVY RAIN FOR 30 TO 40 MINUTES... GUSTY WIND TO 40 MPH... AND SMALL HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED. TAKE SHELTER INDOORS WHEN THUNDER IS HEARD. BADGETT
The Roanoke radar (KFCX), 114 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:45 UTC.
7 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Roads and homes were flooded when Climax Creek overflowed its banks.
Several roads were flooded.
Highway 49 and other rural roads were flooded. Other roads were flooded near Liberty.
Numerous roads were flooded around Badin Lake.
Numerous roads were flooded.
Roads along Highway 421 were flooded.
Several roads were flooded along Highway 15-501
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: 5376949, 5376950, 5376951, 5376952, 5376953, 5376954, 5376955.