Tornado in North Carolina, July 12, 2003

Name: Tornado in North Carolina, July 12, 2003
Start: 2003-07-12T20:00
End: 2003-07-12T20:25
Location: North Carolina

July 12, 2003 · NWS GSP · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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: $2.0 million
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 12, 1:21 PM EST, 6 hours 39 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 12, 1:21 PM EST, 6 hours 39 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
221 PM EDT SAT JUL 12 2003

UPPER LEVEL TROUGH TO PERSIST. SURFACE FRONT E OF AREA TO WASH
OUT...WHILE ANOTHER WEAK FRONT MOVES INTO AREA TONIGHT...STALLING
JUST TO S ON SUN. AREA CAPPED UNTIL THIS EVENING...WHEN CAPES OF
200-300 PROGGED BY MODEL SOUNDINGS AS MID LEVELS COOL. SUNDAY
AFTERNOON TO HAVE A BIT MORE INSTABILITY...AND FRONTAL MOISTURE.
MON/TUE NEARLY A REPEAT OF SUN. GULF NOT OPEN...SO ACTIVITY JUST
EXPECTED TO BE SCATTERED. NOT MUCH COOLING BEHIND THESE BOUNDARIES
...WITH MOISTURE/CLOUDS REMAINING...AND COOLEST AIR WELL TO N.

WEAK S FLOW TO DOMINATE WED/THU AS SLOW MOVING FRONT ADVANCES FROM
NW. FRONT TO STALL OVER AERA FRI...WITH LIMITED MOISTURE...THEN TO
WASH OUT SAT. CHANCE POPS CONTINUE...PRIMARILY AFTERNOON/EVENING...
WITH TEMPERATURES AROUND OR JUST BELOW NORMAL.

FCSTID =    7
GSP   67  86  67  87 /  30  40  40  30
AND   68  86  68  87 /  30  40  40  30
CLT   67  87  67  87 /  30  40  40  30
HKY   65  84  66  84 /  30  40  40  30
AVL   60  81  62  81 /  30  40  40  30

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

O7

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 12, 4:20 AM EST, 15 hours 40 minutes before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-121130-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
520 AM EDT SAT JUL 12 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 DEVELOP AND ORGANIZE
ACROSS THE TENNESSEE VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON. THE STORMS MAY MOVE INTO
THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS LATE THIS AFTERNOON OR EARLY THIS
EVENING...AND THEN MOVE ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF WESTERN NORTH
CAROLINA...AS WELL AS NORTHEAST GEORGIA AND UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA
LATER IN THE EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. A FEW OF THE STORMS COULD PRODUCE
DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS AND PERHAPS LARGE HAIL...ESPECIALLY
DURING THE EARLY TO MID EVENING IN AREAS WEST OF I-26 IN GEORGIA AND
SOUTH CAROLINA...AND WEST OF THE BLUE RIDGE IN NORTH CAROLINA.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

SCATTERD...MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
WILL BE POSSIBLE MOST DAYS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS EVENING.

LANE

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 12, 7:12 PM EST, 48 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
812 PM EDT SAT JUL 12 2003

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

738 PM     COLLETTSVILLE             NC   WIND DAMAGE
07/12/03   CALDWELL                       TREES DOWN. REPORTED BY
                                          COUNTY COMMS CENTER.

MCAVOY

Local storm report, Jul 12, 7:18 PM EST, 42 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
631 PM EDT SAT JUL 12 2003

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

600 PM     2 E WEAVERVILLE           NC   LIGHTNING
07/12/03   BUNCOMBE                       ***INJURED 1, DEAD 0***
                                          COUNTY EOC REPORTED ONE
                                          MAN HOSPITALIZED AND SERIOUSLY
                                          INJURED WHILE STANDING UNDER                                         STANDING UPDER A TREE IN REEMS
                                          A TREE IN REEMS CREEK.

CORRECTED DETAILS ON INJURY.

Local storm report, Jul 12, 7:31 PM EST, 29 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
831 PM EDT SAT JUL 12 2003

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

824 PM     7 NW SHELBY               NC   WIND DAMAGE
07/12/03   CLEVELAND                      SPOTTER REPORTED TREES
                                          BLOWING DOWN AND DEBRIS
                                          IN THE AIR ON HIGHWAY 226
                                          BETWEEN SHELBY AND
                                          POLKVILLE.

TJB

Special weather statement, Jul 12, 7:42 PM EST, 18 minutes before

NCZ068>072-082-SCZ008-009-013-014-130200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
842 PM EDT SAT JUL 12 2003

...STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TO AFFECT THE NORTH CAROLINA
PIEDMONT AND THE NORTHERN PART OF THE UPSTATE THROUGH LATE
EVENING...

AT 838 PM...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF STRONG TO
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE SOUTHERN FOOTHILLS AND WESTERN
PIEDMONT OF NORTH CAROLINA. THIS AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE EAST
AT AROUND 30 MPH...AND AFFECT AREAS FROM SHELBY TO GASTONIA AND
LINCOLNTON THROUGH 930 PM. IF THESE STORMS HOLD TOGETHER...THEY WILL
MOVE INTO THE CHARLOTTE AND ROCK HILL AREAS BETWEEN 930 PM AND 1030
PM EDT.

THE STRONGEST OF THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE
HAIL. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 2 INCHES AND HOUR AND NEARLY CONTINUOUS
LIGHTNING WILL ALSO ACCOMPANY THE STORMS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL RADIO AND TELEVISION OR
CABLE TELEVISION FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

MCAVOY

Local storm report, Jul 12, 7:44 PM EST, 16 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
844 PM EDT SAT JUL 12 2003

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

823 PM     12 N SHELBY               NC   .75 INCH HAIL
07/12/03   CLEVELAND                      DIME SIZE HAIL NEAR
                                          POLKSVILLE.

TJB

Local storm report, Jul 12, 7:47 PM EST, 13 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
847 PM EDT SAT JUL 12 2003

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

842 PM     SUNSHINE                  NC   WIND DAMAGE
07/12/03   RUTHERFORD                     TREES DOWN. REPORTED BY
                                          COUNTY COMMS CENTER.

MCAVOY

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 96 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:58 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Gaston

When: July 12, 8:00 PM EST to 8:25 PM EST
Where: Gaston County, 2 mi SE of Cherryville
Rating: F1
Path length: 18 mi
Path width: 200 yd
Property damage: $2.0 million
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 35.367, -81.350

This weak tornado, or perhaps a series of weak tornadoes, caused widespread tree and power line damage as it tracked across northern Gaston County. The most significant damage occurred in the Mount Holly area, as well as far northern portions of Belmont. Many trees and power lines were blown onto homes and vehicles. Several buildings had significant roof damage, while numerous others incurred minor roof damage

What these are

Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

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

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in North Carolina in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history The tornado archive for North Carolina, 2003 Warnings 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: 5329529.