North Carolina, 2003

Flash Flood in North Carolina, July 11, 2003

July 11, 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
1
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 Jul 11, 12:50 PM EST, 4 hours 56 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 11, 12:50 PM EST, 4 hours 56 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
150 PM EDT FRI JUL 11 2003

WILL UPDATE TO INCLUDE NEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR UPSTATE SC
AND NE GA THROUGH 8 PM EDT.

FCSTID =   33

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

HG
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 11, 4:11 AM EST, 13 hours 35 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-111100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
511 AM EDT FRI JUL 11 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE REGION TODAY...BRINGING SCATTERED
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO THE AREA. A FEW OF THE STORMS COULD
PRODUCE SEVERE WEATHER...ESPECIALLY IN THE PIEDMONT AND FOOTHILLS.
PLEASE SEE THE SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK...CAESPSGSP...FOR MORE
INFORMATION.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

SCATTERED...MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE
POSSIBLE DURING MUCH OF THE NEXT 7 DAYS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON.

LANE

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 11, 3:22 PM EST, 2 hours 24 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
422 PM EDT FRI JUL 11 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

420 PM     BLACKSBURG                SC   .75 INCH HAIL
07/11/03   CHEROKEE                       MARBLE SIZED HAIL COVERED
                                          THE GROUND LIKE SNOW.

420 PM     2 NE BLACKSBURG           SC   WIND DAMAGE
07/11/03   CHEROKEE                       LARGE TREE BLOCKING EAST
                                          CHEROKEE ST BETWEEN
                                          BLACKSBURG AND GROVER.
                                          OTHER TREES DOWN IN
                                          BLACKSBURG. REPORTED BY
                                          COUNTY COMMS CENTER.

MCAVOY
Special weather statement, Jul 11, 3:55 PM EST, 1 hour 51 minutes before
NCZ071-072-082-SCZ009-112210-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
455 PM EDT FRI JUL 11 2003

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS TO AFFECT THE CHARLOTTE METRO AREA
BETWEEN 5 AND 6 PM...

AT 450 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM SOUTHERN LAKE NORMAN IN NORTHERN
MECKLENBURG COUNTY...SOUTHWEST TO BELTON. THESE STORMS WERE
MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. THESE STORMS WILL AFFECT AREAS FROM CONCORD
TO CHARLOTTE TO PINEVILLE BETWEEN 5 AND 6 PM.

NEARLY CONTINUOUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...40 TO 50 MPH WINDS...
TORRENTIAL RAIN AND PEA SIZED HAIL WILL ACCOMPANY THE LINE. SECURE
OUTDOOR OBJECTS...AND PREPARE FOR THE VISIBILITY TO FALL TO NEAR
ZERO IN THE HEAVY RAIN AND WIND. IN EXCESS OF AN INCH OF RAIN WILL
FALL WITH THE LINE IN ABOUT 30 MINUTES.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL WATCH THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS
VERY CLOSELY IN CASE ANY WARNINGS BECOME NECESSARY.

MCAVOY
Local storm report, Jul 11, 4:13 PM EST, 1 hour 33 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
513 PM EDT FRI JUL 11 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

505 PM     HUNTERSVILLE              NC   WIND DAMAGE
07/11/03   MECKLENBURG                    TREES AND POWER LINES
                                          DOWN IN HUNTERSVILLE.
                                          COUNTY 911 REPORT.

BURRUS
Local storm report, Jul 11, 4:37 PM EST, 1 hour 9 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
537 PM EDT FRI JUL 11 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

510 PM     CONCORD                   NC   WIND DAMAGE
07/11/03   CABARRUS                       TREES AND POWER LINES
                                          DOWN IN CONCORD...AS WELL
                                          AS ACROSS THE REST OF THE
                                          COUNTY. POWER OUT TO MOST
                                          OF CONCORD. REPORTED BY
                                          COUNTY COMMS CENTER.

MCAVOY
Local storm report, Jul 11, 4:42 PM EST, 1 hour 4 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
542 PM EDT FRI JUL 11 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

515 PM     2 S CHARLOTTE             NC   FLASH FLOOD
07/11/03   MECKLENBURG                    HAM SPOTTER REPORTED
                                          BRIDGE FLOODED AT NATIONS
                                          FORD AND I-77.

530 PM     KANNAPOLIS                NC   WIND DAMAGE
07/11/03   ROWAN                          TREE FELL ON MOBILE HOME
                                          ON BRANTLEY RD. ODELL
                                          F.D. ON SCENE. REPORTED
                                          BY HAM SPOTTER.

517 PM     ROCKWELL                  NC   WIND DAMAGE
07/11/03   ROWAN                          ROWAN EOC REPORTED TREES
                                          DOWN IN ROCKWELL...10 S
                                          OF SALISBURY.

528 PM     GRANITE QUARRY            NC   WIND DAMAGE
07/11/03   ROWAN                          ROWAN EOC REPORTED TREES
                                          DOWN IN GRANITE
                                          QUARRY...5 S OF
                                          SALISBURY.

LAMB
Local storm report, Jul 11, 5:30 PM EST, 16 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
630 PM EDT FRI JUL 11 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

527 PM     11 E CHARLOTTE            NC   WIND DAMAGE
07/11/03   MECKLENBURG                    TREES DOWN IN MINT HILL.
                                          REPORT FROM COUNTY 911
                                          CENTER.

BURRUS

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 128 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:45 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Union

When
July 11, 5:46 PM EST to 7:00 PM EST
Where
Union County, West Portion
Deaths
1 direct, 0 indirect
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
34.988, -80.531 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Slow-moving thunderstorms produced very heavy rainfall that resulted in rapid development of urban flooding. West of Monroe, a 17-year-old man drowned when he jumped into a flooded drainage ditch, and was swept into a storm drain. Urban flooding was more severe in the towns of Indian Trails, Unionville, and Stallings, where several people required rescue from automobiles trapped by rising water.

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

EventDateAgeSexWhereKind
Flash Flood, Union2003-07-1117MaleOutside/Open AreasDirect

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, July 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: 5334521.