1 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 4, 1:23 PM EST, 4 hours 47 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 223 PM EDT MON AUG 4 2003 UPPER LEVEL TROUGH AXIS TO REMAIN W OF AREA. REMNANTS OF WEAK SURFACE BOUNDARY APPEAR TO REACH AREA LATE TUE...STALLING OVER AREA....WITH SURFACE WAVE MOVING INTO AREA FROM W WED. FIRST OF SEVERALE VORT LOBES MOVES ACROSS AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. LEFT POPS AT LIKELY NE THIS EVENING...WHERE GREATEST INSTABILITY EXPECTED...WITH HIGH CHANCE REST OF AREA. ANOTHER VORT LOBE TO PASS TO SW OF AREA LATE TUE. CARRIED CHANCE POPS...BEST IN WHERE VORT LOBE COMES CLOSEST. THIRD VORT MAX APPROACHES WED...AND CARRIED CHANCE POP ACROSS AREA. WITH VERY MOIST AIR MASS AND POSSIBLE BOUNDARY...LEFT SLIGHT CHANCE POPS LATE EACH NIGHT. WEAK COLD FRONT TO CROSS AREA EARLY THU...SUPPORTING ANOTHER DAY OF CHACNE POPS. TEMPERATURES NEAR PERSISTENCE EACH DAY...GENERALLY LOW TO MID 80S OVER MID TO UPPER 60S. POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE WEATHER TO EXIST THROUGH EARLY PART OF PACKAGE. ALTHOUGH LARGE SCALE QPF NOT EXPECTED TO VERY GREAT ON ANY GIVEN DAY...CUMULATIVE EFFECT ON ALREADY SOAKED SOIL COULD LEAD TO FLOODING BY MID WEEK. WILL ISSUE FLOOD POTENTIAL OUTLOOK. EXTENDED FORECAST FEATURES WEAK STATIONARY FRONT STALLED ACROSS CENTRAL CAROLINAS. CARRIED CHANCE POPS EACH AFTERNOON/EVENING WITH SLIGHT CHANCE LATE EACH NIGHT. TEMPERATURES AGAIN NEAR PERSISTENCE. FCSTID = 7 GSP 68 87 69 85 / 50 30 30 40 AND 68 88 69 85 / 50 30 30 40 CLT 68 88 70 85 / 60 30 30 40 HKY 65 85 67 83 / 60 30 30 40 AVL 62 83 64 81 / 50 40 40 40 .GSP... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. O7
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-041115- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 517 AM EDT MON AUG 4 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA... UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME NUMEROUS TODAY...ESPECIALLY FROM THIS AFTERNOON TO MIDNIGHT. SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BECOME QUITE STRONG AND A FEW COULD REACH SEVERE LEVELS. LOCALIZED HEAVY RAINFALL CAN ALSO BE ANTICIPATED. SEE THE LATEST SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK (CAESPSGSP) FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE WEEK. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WILL AUGMENT ONGOING ELEVATED WATER LEVELS...INCREASING THE CHANCES FOR FLOODING. IN ADDITION...THESE STORMS COULD ALSO BECOME QUITE STRONG AND A FEW COULD REACH SEVERE LEVELS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. NED
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
425 PM EDT MON AUG 04 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
400 PM WEAVERVILLE NC WIND DAMAGE
08/04/03 BUNCOMBE BUNCOMBE 911 REPORTED 7-8
TREES DOWN IN TOWN OF
WEAVERVILLE. ALSO MAJOR
POWER OUTAGES IN NORTHERN
BUNCOMBE COUNTY.
LAMBNCZ068-042230- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 535 PM EDT MON AUG 4 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORM AFFECTING SOUTHERN CLEVELAND COUNTY... AT 530 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM LOCATED ABOUT 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SHELBY. THIS STORM WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING GUSTY WINDS OF 40 TO 50 MPH...SMALL HAIL...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...AND TORRENTIAL RAINFALL AS IT MOVES FROM NEAR EARL AND PATTERSON SPRING. THIS STORM COULD INTENSIFY TO SEVERE LEVELS RAPIDLY...AND THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS STORM FOR A POSSIBLE WARNING. LANE
NCZ053-042255- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 612 PM EDT MON AUG 4 2003 ...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHWEST BUNCOMBE COUNTY... A VERY STRONG STORM JUST SOUTHWEST OF CANTO AT 610 PM WILL CONTINUE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 MPH THROUGH 7 PM. INTERESTS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD MONITOR IT/S PROGRESS...AND BE ALERT FOR FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...VERY HEAVY RAIN...AND POSSIBLY WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH AND HAIL. 55
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
613 PM EDT MON AUG 04 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
540 PM NEBO NC LIGHTNING
08/04/03 MCDOWELL ***INJURED 2, DEAD 0***
SPOTTER REPORTED TWO
PERSONS STRUCK BY
LIGHTNING ON MARION LAKE
CLUB GOLF COURSE.
AIRLIFTED TO
HOSPITAL...MEDICAL
CONDITIONS UNKNOWN.
545 PM NEBO NC WIND DAMAGE
08/04/03 MCDOWELL HAM SPOTTER REPORTED ONE
TREE DOWN ON US-70 IN
NEBO. ALSO NUMEROUS
TRAFFIC ACCIDENTS DUE TO
REDUCED VISIBILITIES FROM
HVY RAIN.
LAMBNCZ070-071-SCZ009-042315- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 619 PM EDT MON AUG 4 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING TOWARD THE CHARLOTTE METRO AREA... AT 612 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM LOCATED ABOUT 12 MILES SOUTHWEST OF GASTONIA...MOVING EAST AT AROUND 20 MPH. THIS STORM WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING GUSTY WINDS OF 40 TO 50 MPH...SMALL HAIL...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...AND HOURLY RAINFALL RATES BETWEEN 1 AND 2 INCHES PER HOUR AS IT TRACKS NEAR THE GASTON AND YORK COUNTY LINE THROUGH 7 PM. IT IS POSSIBLE THAT THIS STORM COULD BRIEFLY INTENSIFY TO SEVERE LEVELS...AND THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THIS STORM CLOSELY FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS. THIS STORM IS EXPECTED TO REACH MECKLENBURG COUNTY BETWEEN 7 AND 730 PM. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION REGARDING THIS WEATHER SITUATION. LANE
NCZ070>072-SCZ009-050000- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 710 PM EDT MON AUG 4 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS TO AFFECT THE CHARLOTTE METRO AREA THROUGH 8 PM... AT 705 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO WESTERN MECKLENBURG COUNTY. THESE STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG WIND GUSTS OF 40 TO 50 MPH...TORRENTIAL RAINFALL RATES OF 1 TO 2 INCHES PER HOUR...AND FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AS THEY MOVE ACROSS THE METRO AREA. PONDING OF WATER WILL LIKELY OCCUR ON STREETS AND HIGHWAYS ACROSS THE AREA...AND FLOODING OF LOW LYING AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS WILL BE POSSIBLE. THESE STORMS WILL CONTINUE TO BE MONITORED CLOSELY FOR POSSIBLE WARNINGS. LANE
The Greer radar (KGSP), 85 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:07 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Numerous trees and power lines were blown down. Part of the tin roof was blown off of an auto shop. Part of the roof was blown off of a warehouse, causing a wall to collapse. Numerous power outages were reported in areas from Asheville to Black Mountain.
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: 5333039, 5333040.