North Carolina, 2003

Flash Flood in North Carolina, February 27, 2003

February 27, 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 27, 11:45 AM EST, 2 hours 15 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 27, 11:45 AM EST, 2 hours 15 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1145 AM EST THU FEB 27 2003

BUSY MORNING WITH BOTH ICING AND FLOODING CONCERNS.

AS FOR THE ICE...HAVE CANCELLED THE ADVISORY ACROSS THE FRENCH BROAD
VALLEY...THE SRN NC FOOTHILLS...THE UPSTATE AND UNION CO SC. WL
DOWNGRADE THE WARNING TO AN ADVISORY OVER MCDOWELL CO. WL KEEP THE
WARNING IN PLACE ELSEWHERE AS ICING IS STILL BEING REPORTED MOST
AREAS N OF I-40. THUS FAR...ONLY DAVIE COUNTY HAS REALLY HAD ICE
STORM TYPE OF CONDITIONS W/A THICK GLAZE OF ICE AND TREES AND
POWERLINES DOWN. HOWEVER...POCKETS OF DAMAGE ARE STILL POSSIBLE IN
THE WARNING AREA AS RAIN IS STILL FALLING. AS WINDS INCREASE LATER
TDA AS SFC LOW DEEPENS OFF THE COAST...EXPECT INCREASING REPORTS OF
TREES AND POWER LINES DOWN IN THIS AREA.

MORNING HAND ANALYSIS SHOWED STRONG H5 AND H3 UPPER DIFFLUENCE
SPREADING INTO THE CWA FROM THE WEST (H5 WINDS AT ABOUT A 45 DEG
ANGLE BETWEEN FFC AND BNA). THIS AS RESULTED IN STRENGTHENING LLVL
FLOW AND DEEP OMEGA...AS IS EVIDENCED BY IMPRESSIVE UPGLIDE ON THE
ETA I295 SFC THROUGH THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING RIGHT ALONG THE I85
CORRIDOR. STRONG LLVL ASCENT HAS RESULTED IN A NICE FRONTAL RAINBAND
ACROSS THE UPSTATE AND NE GA. FLOODING HAS ALREADY BEEN REPORTED IN
LAURENS COUNTY. SINCE THE ETA/S STRONGEST LLVL CONVERGENCE HAS NOT
EVEN BEEN REALIZED YET...HAVE HOISTED FFA FOR THE UPSTATE NE
GA...AND THE FAR SRN NC PIEDMONT...INCLUDING CHARLOTTE FOR THIS AFTN
THROUGH MIDNIGHT.

FCSTID =   14
GSP   35  36  53  35 / 100  40  10  10
AND   37  38  55  36 / 100  30  10  10
CLT   33  35  52  34 / 100  30  10  10
HKY   31  32  49  32 / 100  50  10  10
AVL   34  34  48  30 / 100  50  10  10

.GSP...
GA...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR ZONES
GAZ010...GAZ017>018...GAZ026...GAZ028>029.

NC...WINTER STORM WARNING FOR THIS AFTN FOR ZONES
NCZ034>037...NCZ055>057.

FLOOD WATCH UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR ZONES NCZ071...NCZ082.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THIS AFTN FOR ZONES
NCZ033...NCZ049>050...NCZ054.

WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY FOR THIS AFTN FOR ZONES NCZ068>072.

SC...FLOOD WATCH UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR ZONES SCZ001>014...SCZ019.

MCAVOY
Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 27, 4:50 AM EST, 9 hours 10 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-271200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
450 AM EST THU FEB 27 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

FREEZING RAIN WILL CONTINUE OVER THE NORTH CAROLINA NORTHERN
FOOTHILLS AND NORTHWEST PIEDMONT WHERE 1/4 TO 1/2 INCH ICE
ACCUMULATION IS POSSIBLE.

THERE IS A CHANCE OF FREEZING RAIN OVER THE NORTH AND EASTERN
MOUNTAINS AND THE SOUTHERN FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT OF NORTH
CAROLINA...PLUS THE NORTHEAST COUNTIES OF UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA
FROM GREENVILLE TO YORK COUNTIES. ACCUMULATIONS IN THESE OTHER AREAS
IS EXPECTED TO BE BELOW 1/4 INCH.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

RB

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 128 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:59 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Union

When
February 27, 2:00 PM EST to 5:00 PM EST
Where
Union County, Monroe
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
34.988, -80.531 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

After a night of steady rainfall, heavier afternoon showers resulted in flooding along several creeks and streams in and around Monroe. Some overflowing streams flooded adjacent roads.

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: 5344675.