Lightning Strike and Heavy Rain in North Carolina, July 19 to 21, 2003

Name: Lightning Strike and Heavy Rain in North Carolina, July 19 to 21, 2003
Start: 2003-07-19T18:00
End: 2003-07-21T18:00
Location: North Carolina

July 19 to 21, 2003 · NWS GSP · 2 events in 1 county or zone

1 heavy rain, 1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 2 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: $30,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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 19, 2:15 PM EST, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 19, 2:15 PM EST, 3 hours 45 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
315 PM EDT SAT JUL 19 2003

SFC TROUGH REMAINS STRETCHED ACROSS THE REGION AS COLD FRONT SLIDES
S TOWARD THE AREA. CONVECTION HAS FIRED EARLY IN THE UNSTABLE
AIRMASS WITH LITTLE CAPPING AND WEAK H5 SHORTWAVES SLIPPING EAST
ACROSS THE REGION. COVERAGE SHOULD REMAIN SCATTERED THROUGH
SUNSET...WITH THE BEST FOCUS SHIFTING TOWARD THE NRN FOOTHILLS IN
LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE AS THE EVENING PROGRESSES. SLIGHTLY BETTER MID
LEVEL WIND FLOW ACROSS THE NRN TIER TO ALLOW TSTM MODE TO VARY FROM
WEAK MULTI CELL N TO MAINLY PULSE SEVERE S.

WEAK DRYING INTO SUN WITH NO ADDITIONAL UPPER SUPPORT SHOULD INHIBIT
COVERAGE A LITTLE. LOW LEVEL TROUGH/WEAK FRONT LINGER TO PROVIDE A
FOCUS FOR SLIGHT CHC CONVECTION SUN PM. ANOTHER MAINLY DIURNAL CHC
ON MONDAY BEFORE UPPER ENERGY ASSOC WITH SIGNIFICANT HEIGHT FALLS
ARRIVE BY TUE ALONG WITH APPROACHING FRONT. SETUP REMAINS IMPRESSIVE
FOR POSSIBLE SEVERE WX THREAT FROM TUE INTO WED UNDER THE INFLUENCE
OF STRONG UPPER DYNAMICS. HAVE PUSHED POPS INTO LIKELY RANGE FOR TUE
AND WILL MAINTAIN HIGH CHC THROUGH WED BEFORE PARING BACK FROM THE W
ON THU.

EASTWARD PROGRESSION OF LONGWAVE TROUGH STILL QUESTIONABLE FOR LATE
WEEK...BUT DRYING IN THE COLUMN SHOULD ALLOW DRY FORECAST TO GO
FORWARD FOR NEXT FRI/SAT.

FCSTID =   33
GSP   69  89  69  89 /  30  20  20  30
AND   69  90  69  90 /  30  20  20  30
CLT   69  89  69  89 /  30  20  20  30
HKY   67  87  67  87 /  40  20  20  30
AVL   64  85  64  85 /  30  20  20  30

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

HG

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 19, 4:35 AM EST, 13 hours 25 minutes before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-191145-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
535 AM EDT SAT JUL 19 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP OVER THE REGION AGAIN TODAY. SOME OF
THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE
HAIL. SEE OUR SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK...UNDER THE PRODUCT I.D.
CAESPSGSP...FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AGAIN LATE MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY
AS AN UNSEASONABLY STRONG COLD FRONT MOVES INTO THE REGION. SOME OF
THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL STAND A GOOD CHANCE OF BEING SEVERE. IF THE
FRONT MOVES SLOWLY ENOUGH...THERE WILL ALSO BE A CHANCE OF LOCALIZED
FLOODING.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY.

MCAVOY

In the hours before

Local storm report, Jul 19, 3:24 PM EST, 2 hours 36 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
424 PM EDT SAT JUL 19 2003

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

415 PM     DYSARTSVILLE              NC   WIND DAMAGE
07/19/03   MCDOWELL                       SPOTTER REPORTS TREE
                                          BLOWN DOWN ONTO HIGHWAY
                                          64.

HG

Local storm report, Jul 19, 4:56 PM EST, 1 hour 4 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
556 PM EDT SAT JUL 19 2003

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

543 PM     MOCKSVILLE                NC   .75 INCH HAIL
07/19/03   DAVIE                          DIME SIZE HAIL REPORTED
                                          BY SPOTTER.

RB

Local storm report, Jul 19, 5:39 PM EST, 21 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
639 PM EDT SAT JUL 19 2003

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

630 PM     6 W SALISBURY             NC   WIND DAMAGE
07/19/03   ROWAN                          SPOTTER REPORTS TWO TREES
                                          DOWN.

JAT

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 133 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:58 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 heavy rain, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Heavy Rain, Mecklenburg

When: July 19, 6:00 PM EST to July 21, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Mecklenburg County, Charlotte
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 35.247, -80.833 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Some street flooding occurred.

Lightning, Mecklenburg

When: July 19, 6:00 PM EST
Where: Mecklenburg County, Charlotte
Property damage: $30,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 35.247, -80.833 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A house was struck by lightning.

What these are

Heavy Rain: Rainfall totals unusual for the place and season that did not produce a flood.
Lightning: A lightning strike that killed, injured or caused damage.

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 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: 5330379, 5330380.