1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 Greenville-Spartanburg, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 18, 2:00 PM EST, 3 hours 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 300 PM EDT FRI JUL 18 2003 SURFACE FRONT STRETCHES FROM SRN PA THROUGH THE OHIO VALLEY AT 18Z THIS AFTERNOON. LEE TROUGHING IS OBSERVED THROUGH THE WESTERN CAROLINAS...WITH LAPS ANALSYS INDICATING BEST LOW LEVEL MOISTURE FLUX CONVERGENCE ALONG THE BLUE RIDGE IN NC. SOUNDINGS INDICATE CAPE VALUES ABOVE 3000 J/KG OUTSIDE THE MOUNTAINS WITH MUCH LESS CAPPING OF WARM MID LEVEL TEMPS EVIDENT. CONVECTION SHOULD INITIATE EARLIER TODAY...AND RADAR INDEED SHOWS TSRA FANNING OUT ALONG THE ESCARPMENT PRESENTLY. LOW WET BULB ZERO HEIGHTS ALONG WITH STEEP LAPSES OF EQUIV POTENTIAL TEMPERATURES FROM THE SFC TO 700 MB SUGGEST THAT HAIL AND DAMAGING DOWNBURST WINDS WILL BE POSSIBLE ANY CONVECTION. IR IMAGERY DEPICTS STRONG MCS OVER THE SRN TIP OF ILLINOIS AND STEERING CURRENT SHOULD DRIVE THE BULK OF THIS CONVECTION SOUTHWARD ALONG THE MS RIVER VALLEY. PROMINENT 500 MB SHORTWAVE IS INDICATED BY THE MODELS...HOWEVER...TO SWING SOUTHEAST AND CROSS THE SRN APPALACHIANS OVERNIGHT. THIS FORCING WILL INCREASE AS FRONTAL SYSTEM ALSO SLOWLY APPROACHES FROM THE N. WILL THUS NEED SOLID CHC POPS TO CONTINUE OVERNIGHT WITH THE BEST CHANCES LATE OVER THE MTNS AND THE NRN TIER. UPPER WAVE EXITS TO THE EAST EARLY IN THE DAY...THEN THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY SAGS INTO THE REGION AND STALLS. LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE AND INSTABILITY WILL ONCE AGAIN BE FAVORABLE FOR CHC POPS THROUGHOUT THE DAY. SOME DRYING IS THEN INDICATED BETWEEN UPPER TROUGHS ON SUNDAY WITH WEAK SHORTWAVE RIDGING IN PLACE. ETA INSTABILITIES BUBBLE BACK TO 2000 TO 3000 CAPES BUT WITH SOME CAPPING EVIDENT. HEIGHTS THEN FALL IN EARNEST THROUGH THE EARLY WEEK. THE GFS PAINTS A SEVERE WEATHER SCENARIO AS 850 MB JET WRAPS INTO THE AREA COINCIDENT WITH THE APPROACH OF AN UNSEASONABLY STRONG COLD FRONT AND SIGNIFICANT UPPER FORCING. WILL NEED CHANCE POPS FROM PM MONDAY THROUGH WED WITH THE BEST CHC TUE. SOME UNCERTAINTY WITH DRYING AND TROUGH AXIS PROGRESSION FOR THU AND FRI...BUT DRY WEATHER STILL LOOKS GOOD. FCSTID = 33 GSP 70 86 69 88 / 40 50 30 20 AND 70 87 69 89 / 40 50 30 20 CLT 70 85 68 88 / 40 50 30 20 HKY 68 84 66 86 / 50 50 30 20 AVL 65 83 63 84 / 50 50 30 20 .GSP... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. HG
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-181145- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 547 AM EDT FRI JUL 18 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA... UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE THROUGH THE NIGHT. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING TORRENTIAL RAIN AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING. A FEW OF THE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THUNDERSTORMS WILL LINGER INTO SATURDAY MORNING...WITH MORE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER THE REGION SATURDAY AFTERNOON. ONCE AGAIN...A FEW OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE. THERE WILL BE A GOOD CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED. MCAVOY
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
419 PM EDT FRI JUL 18 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
330 PM HENDERSONVILLE NC WIND DAMAGE
07/18/03 HENDERSON A COUPLE OF TREES BLOWN
DOWN ON 4TH AVENUE.
328 PM ETOWAH NC HAIL DAMAGE
07/18/03 HENDERSON DAMAGE REPORTED DUE TO
LARGE HAIL. HAIL SIZE NOT
KNOWN.
NEDPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
442 PM EDT FRI JUL 18 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
410 PM COLLETTSVILLE NC .88 INCH HAIL
07/18/03 CALDWELL FIRE DEPT REPORTED NICKEL
SIZE HAIL IN
COLLETTSVILLE.
TJBPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
518 PM EDT FRI JUL 18 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
349 PM 5 NE BREVARD NC WIND DAMAGE
07/18/03 TRANSYLVANIA EOC REPORTED TREES DOWN
ON HWY 280 AND IN LITTLE
RIVER.
445 PM DYSARTSVILLE NC HAIL
07/18/03 MCDOWELL EOC STATED HAIL REPORTED
IN DYSARTSVILLE BUT SIZE
UNKNOWN AT THIS TIME.
TJBPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
530 PM EDT FRI JUL 18 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
440 PM CHIMNEY ROCK NC LIGHTNING INJURY
07/18/03 RUTHERFORD ***INJURED 1, DEAD 0***
FIRE DEPT REPORTED PERSON
HIT BY LIGHTNING IN
CHIMNEY ROCK.
TRANSPORTED TO HOSPITAL
BUT ALERT AND TALKING.
TJBPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
546 PM EDT FRI JUL 18 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
530 PM LENOIR NC WIND DAMAGE
07/18/03 CALDWELL EOC REPORTED TREES DOWN
ON HWY 321 IN LENOIR.
TJBPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
558 PM EDT FRI JUL 18 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
544 PM ENKA NC WIND DAMAGE
07/18/03 BUNCOMBE COUNTY EOC REPORTED ONE
TREE DOWN ON ENKA LAKE
RD.
LAMBThe Greer radar (KGSP), 122 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:04 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A couple of large trees were blown down. One tree fell on an outbuilding in Hickory. An elementary school in Longview sustained some structural damage.
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: 5334412.