1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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.
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 Raleigh, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 17, 1:24 PM EST, 7 hours 36 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 224 PM EDT THU JUL 17 2003 TONIGHT: AIR MASS FROM THE TRIAD TO THE TRIANGLE NORTHWARD IS QUITE STABLE WITH DEWPOINTS IN THE L-M 60S. CAPES TO THE SOUTH ALONG AND AHEAD OF THE TROUGH ARE CLOSE TO 2K J/KG WITH L-M 70S DEWPOINTS & INCREASING MOISTURE CONVERGENCE. WILL DROP POPS TO ISOLATED AT BEST ACROSS NORTHERN SECTIONS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON THROUGH EARLY EVENING. WILL LEAVE CHANCE POPS ACROSS THE SOUTH TIL AROUND 06Z. COULD STILL SEE STRONG WINDS WITH A FEW CELLS... ALONG WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. PREFER THE SLIGHTLY COOLER FWC GUIDANCE FOR LOWS... RANGING FROM 67 TO 71. -GIH APPEARS THAT BEST CHANCE OF CONVECTION OVER CENTRAL NC IN THE SHORT TERM WILL BE LATE FRI NIGHT THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON SAT. MID LEVEL COOLING COUPLED WITH THETA-E ADVECTION IN THE LOW LAYERS WILL SUPPORT SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS CONVECTION... DEVELOPING/MOVING INTO THE NW AFT 06Z SAT THEN OVERSPREADING REMAINDER OF FORECAST AREA SAT MORNING. UPPER DYNAMICS BEGIN TO WANE AFTER 18Z SO WILL BEGIN TO TAPER POPS NW-SE DURING THE AFTERNOON. BY 22Z SAT-00Z SUN...WILL CONFINE SMALL POP TO FAR SE THROUGH 02Z. DUE TO EXPECTED CLOUD COVER AND CONVECTION...WILL TREND MAX TEMPS SAT A FEW DEGREES COOLER FROM PREVIOUS FORECAST. OTHERWISE...ANY CONVECTION THAT OCCURS FRI WILL BE DIURNAL IN NATURE WITH COVERAGE EXPECTED TO BE NO GREATER THAN 30%. STALLED BOUNDARY OVER SOUTHERN COUNTIES AND A RETURN FLOW BECOMING ESTABLISHED SUN AFTERNOON SUGGEST SLIGHT CHANCE/SMALL CHANCE POP WARRANTED IN THAT REGION. WILL REMOVE MENTION OF SLIGHT CHANCE OVER THE NORTH FOR SUN AS COLUMN APPEARS TOO DRY TO SUPPORT CONVECTION. MAX TEMPS FRI COMPARABLE TO MOS GUIDANCE WITH SLIGHT ADJUSTMENTS (USUALLY DOWNWARD) WITH HIGHS SUN CLOSE TO CLIMO. MON-THU...AMPLIFYING RIDGE OVER CENTRAL U.S. WILL RESULT IN LONGWAVE TROUGH OVER EASTERN U.S. TUE-THU. APPEARS BEST CHANCE OF CONVECTION WED-THU. WILL MAINTAIN CHANCE POPS MON AS SW FLOW BEGINS TO INCREASE LIFT FRONT NORTH AS WARM FRONT. TEMPS THROUGH EXTENDED NEAR NORMAL INITIALLY THEN TREND MAX TEMPS3-5 DEGREES COOLER THAN CLIMO DUE TO CLOUDS AND CONVECTION. -WSS .RAH...NONE. HARTFIELD/WSS
NCZ007>011-021>028-038>043-073>078-083>086-088-089-171055- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 456 AM EDT THU JUL 17 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL NORTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY THERE IS LITTLE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS BECOMING SEVERE TODAY... HOWEVER THERE REMAINS A THREAT THAT SLOW MOVING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRESENT OTHER PROBLEMS. FLASH FLOODING MAY BECOME A DISTINCT PROBLEM ACROSS AREAS ALREADY HARD HIT FROM NUMEROUS RAINS DURING THE PAST WEEK. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. HEAVY RAINS FROM SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MOST LIKELY ON SATURDAY ANY TIME... BUT SCATTERED AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ANY OTHER DAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. CLINE
NCZ041-042-180245- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RALEIGH NC 952 PM EDT THU JUL 17 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER HOLLY SPRINGS... FUQUAY VARINA... AND GARNER... AT 950 PM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING CENTERED ABOUT 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF DOWNTOWN FUQUAY VARINA. THESE STORMS WERE PRODUCING FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND RAINFALL RATES IN EXCESS OF 2 INCHES AN HOUR AS THEY MOVED TO THE EAST AT ONLY 5 MPH. DUE TO THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS... RAINFALL TOTALS BETWEEN 950 PM AND 1050 PM WILL LIKELY BE IN EXCESS OF 2 INCHES IN AN AREA FROM FUQUAY VARINA TO GARNER. MOTORISTS ALONG US-401 AND ALONG NC-42 AND 50 SHOULD BE ALERT FOR FLOODING IN LOW LYING DIPS IN THE ROADS AND FOR SIGNIFICANT STANDING WATER. THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO AFFECT HOLLY SPRINGS... GARNER... AND POSSIBLY CLAYTON BEFORE 1030 PM. DUE TO THE FREQUENT LIGHTNING... SEEK SHELTER INDOORS UNTIL THE STORMS MOVE OUT OF THE REGION. BADGETT
The Raleigh/Durham radar (KRAX), 20 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 01:58 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
A house on Banks Road near Highway 401 was flooded.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, July 2003
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: 5375425.