North Carolina, 2003

Flash Flood in North Carolina, August 6 to 7, 2003

August 6 to 7, 2003 · NWS GSP · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flash flood, 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$5,000
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 6, 8:05 PM EST, 2 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 6, 8:05 PM EST, 2 hours 55 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
905 PM EDT WED AUG 6 2003

KGSP RADAR SHOWS MOST OF THE REMAINING CONVECTION CONFINED TO THE NC
FOOTHILLS AND THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE CLT METRO AREA. LAPS ANALYSIS
SHOWS MOST OF THE REMAINING SURFACE BASED INSTABILITY LIMITED TO THE
NC PIEDMONT...WHICH STANDS THE BEST CHANCE OF ADDITIONAL PRECIP FOR
THE REST OF THE EVENING. WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOWS VORT AXIS MOVING
IN FROM N GA. AS THIS FEATURE SWINGS THROUGH THE REGION OVERNIGHT...
IT COULD TRIGGER ADDITIONAL CONVECTION AT ANY TIME. WILL NOT LOWER
POP BELOW CHANCE RANGE FOR THAT REASON...BUT WILL ADJUST POPS TO
MATCH ONGOING CONVECTION. AS FOR TEMPS...AREAS OF THE LOWER SC
PIEDMONT ARE ALREADY AT FCST LOWS OWING TO COOL POOL IN THE WAKE OF
EARLIER CONVECTION. WILL TWEAK TEMPS DOWN THERE BY A DEGREE...BUT
WILL LEAVE TEMPS ALONE ELSEWHERE.

.GSP...
GA...NONE.
NC...NONE.
SC...NONE.

MOORE

...PREVIOUS DISCUSSION ISSUED AT 233 PM...
ANOMALOUS UPPER LEVEL LONGWAVE TROUGH TO REMAIN OVER EASTERN USA
THROUGH EARLY PART OF PACKAGE...WITH RIDGE TO W. CONVECTION IN N AL
THIS AFTERNOON TRACKING E TOWARD GA/SC...AND WILL KEEP LIKELY
EVENING POPS THOSE AREAS...WITH CHANCE NC. CONCERNED ABOUT SEVERE
POTENTIAL S PORTION...AND FLOOD POTENTIAL ENTIRE AREA. WILL LEAVE
CHANCE POPS WELL AFTER MIDNIGHT...AS CONVECTION HAS BEEN SLOW TO
DIE OFF. DENSE FOG WAS OBSERVED ACROSS MUCH OF AREA EARLY THIS
MORNING...AND WILL INCLUDE AGAIN THU.

IMPULSE ROUNDING BASE OF TROUGH THU MORE IMPRESSIVE THAN TODAY...AND
WILL CARRY LIKELY POP ENTIRE AREA. WITH UPPER ENERGY STILL UPSTREAM
THU NIGHT...LOW CHANCE POP WILL CONTINUE OVERNIGHT. ANOTHER VIGOROUS
VORT LOBE APPROACHES AREA FRI...TAKING UNTIL LATE NIGHT TO MOVE
THROUGH. CARRIED SLIGHTLY LOWER POP WITH THIS FEATURE AS IT IS A BIT
WEAKER THAN THURSDAY IMPULSE. YET ANOTHER VORT LOBE APPROACHES SAT
INTO SAT NIGHT. THOUGH MORE IMPRESSIVE THAN FRIDAY VORT...WILL KEEP
POP ABOUT LIKE FRI...AS CONFIDENCE DECREASES ON STRENGTH/TIMING.
TEMPERATURES NEAR PERSISTENCE WITH NO CHANGE IN AIR MASS.

EXTENDED FORECAST STARTS MUCH AS EARLY PACKAGE ENDS. BY MON GFS HAS
STRONG SHORTWAVE DIGGING INTO BASE OF TROUGH...CLOSING OF LOW IN S
MS RIVER VALLEY. IF THIS SCENARIO UNFOLDS...W ATLANTIC RIDGE COULD
RETROGRADE OVER AREA...WARMING/DRYING AREA. CURRENT NCEP SOLUTION
MAINTAINS WEAK BOUNDARY OVER AREA ON E SIDE OF UPPER TROUGH THROUGH
TUE...LEADING TO MORE PERSISTENCE IN FORECAST. BY WED BOUNDARY OUT
OF AREA AND WEAKENING...AND WILL CARRY SLIGHT CHANCE POP.

FCSTID =    7
GSP   69  85  68  85 /  60  60  60  40
AND   70  85  69  85 /  60  60  60  40
CLT   69  85  68  85 /  50  60  60  40
HKY   67  83  66  83 /  50  60  60  30
AVL   64  81  63  81 /  50  60  60  30

O7
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 6, 4:08 AM EST, 18 hours 52 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-061100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
508 AM EDT WED AUG 6 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA...
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP TODAY OVER THE
FORECAST AREA. ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP LATE THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING. IN ADDITION...SLOW STORM MOTIONS WILL ALLOW
FOR HIGH RAINFALL RATES. PLEASE SEE THE LATEST SEVERE WEATHER
OUTLOOK (CAESPSGSP) FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON THE SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM AND FLOODING THREAT.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL LINGER OVER THE AREA THROUGH THE
PERIOD. WITH THE GROUND NEARLY SATURATED...ADDITIONAL RAINFALL WILL
QUICKLY RUNOFF INTO NEARBY STREAMS AND CREEKS. IF THESE HEAVY RAIN
PRODUCING THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP THROUGHOUT THE WEEK AS
EXPECTED...FLOODING MAY RESULT. PLEASE SEE THE LATEST FLOOD
POTENTIAL OUTLOOK (ESFGSP) FOR MORE DETAILED INFORMATION.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

NED

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 126 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:59 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Catawba

When
August 6, 11:00 PM EST to August 7, 2:00 AM EST
Where
Catawba County, Longview
Property damage
$5,000
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
35.663, -81.214 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Several streets were closed due to flooding. At least one vehicle was trapped by flood waters.

What these are

Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

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: 5374354.