North Carolina, 2003

Flash Flood in North Carolina, February 22, 2003

February 22, 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
None recorded
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 Feb 22, 8:35 PM EST, 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 22, 8:35 PM EST, 55 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
835 PM EST SAT FEB 22 2003

UPDATED TO ISSUE FLOOD WATCH FOR ALL REMAINING COUNTIES IN THE
CWFA...INCREASED CHANCE OF RAIN...AND REMOVED DENSE FOG ADVISORY FOR
ALL BUT THE NORTHERN FOOTHILLS. MORE WHEN UPPER AIR ANALYSIS IS
COMPLETE.

FCSTID =   44
GSP   43  57  37  60 /  80  10  20  20
AND   44  59  36  61 /  80   0  20  20
CLT   45  60  37  59 /  80   0  20  20
HKY   41  54  35  55 /  80  10  20  20
AVL   40  50  33  55 /  80  10  20  20

.GSP...
GA...FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONES GAZ010...GAZ017>018...
GAZ026...GAZ028>029.
NC...FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONES
NCZ033>037...NCZ048>059...NCZ062>072...NCZ082.
WIND ADVISORY FOR LATE TONIGHT FOR ZONES NCZ033...NCZ048>050.
DENSE FOG ADVISORY FOR THIS EVENING FOR ZONES NCZ034>054-055.
SC...FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONES SCZ001>014...SCZ019.

BURRUS
Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 22, 6:19 AM EST, 15 hours 11 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-221300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
619 AM EST SAT FEB 22 2003

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

.DAY ONE...WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT THE
WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA. SOME OF THE STORMS WILL
LIKELY BE SEVERE...ESPECIALLY LATE THIS MORNING INTO THIS AFTERNOON.
HEAVY RAINFALL COULD ALSO PRODUCE ISOLATED FLASH FLOODING. WINDS
WILL REMAIN STRONG AFTER THE PRECIPIATION ENDS TONIGHT...ESPECIALLY
ACROSS THE MOUNTAINS. FOR MORE INFORMATION...SEE CAESPSGSP.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED BY EARLY AFTERNOON...
ESPECIALLY ALONG THE I-85 CORRIDOR.

LANE

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Feb 22, 5:12 PM EST, 4 hours 18 minutes before
GAZ010-017-NCZ033-048>053-058-059-062>065-SCZ001>003-230015-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
512 PM EST SAT FEB 22 2003

SCATTERED...STRONG...THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP OVER THE
MOUNTAINS OF THE WESTERN CAROLINAS...AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA...THROUGH
THE EVENING HOURS. THE STORMS WILL RACE NORTHEAST AT AROUND 50 MPH.
HAIL UP TO A HALF INCH IN DIAMETER...AND WINDS OF 40 TO 50
MPH...WILL ACCOMPANY THE STRONGER STORMS.

MCAVOY
Special weather statement, Feb 22, 7:35 PM EST, 1 hour 55 minutes before
GAZ018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>050-052>057-064>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-230330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
735 PM EST SAT FEB 22 2003

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN DEVELOPING OVER THE
WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA...

A STATIONARY FRONT RUNNING ROUGHLY ALONG INTERSTATE 85 THROUGH THE
NORTH CAROLINA PIEDMONT...AND UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...WILL SERVE AS
THE FOCUSING MECHANISM FOR STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE NEXT
SEVERAL HOURS. THESE STORMS WILL RACE TO THE NORTHEAST AT AROUND 50
MPH. HOWEVER...SEVERAL STORMS WILL AFFECT THE SAME AREA...IN AN
EFFECT KNOWN AS TRAINING. THIS WILL RESULT IN SOME AREAS SEEING 1 TO
2 INCHES OF RAIN IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME.

THE STRONGER STORMS WILL ALSO PRODUCE FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND
LIGHTNING...40 TO 50 MPH WINDS AND HAIL UP TO A HALF INCH IN
DIAMETER.

IN THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
WILL PRODUCE TORRENTIAL RAIN...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING
AND SMALL HAIL ALONG AND EAST OF A LINE FROM BREVARD TO BUNCOMBE AND
BAKERSVILLE.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF
THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.

MCAVOY

The radar

The Knoxville radar (KMRX), 133 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Avery

When
February 22, 9:30 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where
Avery County, Elk Park
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
36.077, -81.922 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Some small creeks and streams flooded in and around Elk Park.

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, February 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: 5344613.