Flash Flood in North Carolina, June 17, 2003

Name: Flash Flood in North Carolina, June 17, 2003
Start: 2003-06-17T20:00
End: 2003-06-17T23:00
Location: North Carolina

June 17, 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: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $100,000
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 Jun 17, 2:20 PM EST, 5 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 17, 2:20 PM EST, 5 hours 40 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
320 PM EDT TUE JUN 17 2003

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CURRENTLY DEVELOPING IN MOUNTAINS ARE MOST
NUMEROUS IN HIGHER TERRAIN ALONG TN BORDER.  THEY SEEM TO HAVE A
TENDENCY TO DRIFT SLOWLY TO THE NORTHEAST INTO THE MOUNTAIN COUNTIES
CURRENTLY IN THE FLOOD WATCH.  THUS... PLAN TO CARRY WATCH INTO THE
EVENING HOURS FOR OUR NORTHERN MOUNTAIN COUNTIES PLUS MADISON...
BUNCOMBE... AND HENDERSON.  OTHER THAN THE SURFACE HEATING IN THE
FAR WEST OF OUR CWA AND IN THE VICINITY OF THE SURFACE BOUNDARY NEAR
CLT... UPWARD FORCING IS VIRTUALLY NON-EXISTENT.  FLOOD WATCH FOR
AREAS EAST OF MOUNTAINS WILL BE DROPPED... BUT POTENTIAL FOR MORE
HEAVY RAIN MUST BE CONSIDERED FOR TOMORROW.  APPEARS THAT DIFFUSE
SURFACE BOUNDARY WILL DRIFT NORTHWARD ALLOWING A MORE SOUTHERLY
LOW-LEVEL WIND FLOW TO DEVELOP.  THIS WILL RESULT IN A BIT OF
DESTABILIZATION ALONG WITH PERSISTENCE OF DEEP... MOIST AIR MASS AND
APPROACH OF UPPER LEVEL TROUGH.  SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL
REMAIN IN FORECAST FOR WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND THURSDAY AS IMPRESSIVE
LATE JUNE TROUGH ALOFT APPROACHES APPALACHIANS FROM THE NORTHWEST.
TROUGH AND ASSOCIATED SURFACE FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH CWA ON FRIDAY
TO BE FOLLOWED BY DRIER AIR AND QUITE A BIT OF SUNSHINE.

SATURDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...
SURFACE HIGH DRIFTING FROM MIDWEST INTO EASTERN STATES DURING
WEEKEND WILL PRODUCE A PERIOD OF DRY WEATHER.  CHANCE POPS ARE
INTRODUCED EARLY NEXT WEEK AS RETURN FLOW INCREASES MOISTURE ACROSS
REGION.

FCSTID =    6
GSP   68  81  68  85 /  70  60  60  40
AND   68  82  67  86 /  50  60  60  40
CLT   68  81  67  85 /  80  60  60  40
HKY   66  78  65  82 /  80  60  60  40
AVL   64  77  63  80 /  80  60  60  40

.GSP...
GA...NONE.
NC...FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT FOR AVERY... MITCHELL... YANCEY...
MADISON... BUNCOMBE... AND HENDERSON COUNTIES.
SC...NONE.

LGL/RWH

Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 17, 4:35 AM EST, 15 hours 25 minutes before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-171200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
535 AM EDT TUE JUN 17 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A STATIONARY FRONT WILL RESULT IN WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA AGAIN
THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE
VERY HEAVY RAIN...AND A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF WESTERN
NORTH CAROLINA TODAY AND TONIGHT.

SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 40...A FEW OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO BE
CAPABLE OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WINDS AS WELL AS SMALL HAIL AND
FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY AND
THURSDAY. A FEW OF THESE STORMS COULD BE SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WIND
AND HAIL. VERY HEAVY RAIN WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY ON
THURSDAY. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE AGAIN NEXT SUNDAY AND
MONDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

MCAVOY

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 17, 2:50 PM EST, 5 hours 10 minutes before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-180145-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
350 PM EDT TUE JUN 17 2003

...HEAVY RAIN IS POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE
PIEDMONT... FOOTHILLS... AND MOUNTAINS OF THE CAROLINAS AND
NORTHEAST GEORGIA...

VERY MOIST AIR WILL PERSIST OVER THE CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA
ON WEDNESDAY.  THE APPROACH OF AN UPPER-LEVEL WEATHER DISTURBANCE
AND DAYTIME HEATING WILL COMBINE TO CREATE A FAVORABLE SITUATION FOR
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP.  THE SLOWLY MOVING STORMS WILL
BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING EXCESSIVE AMOUNTS OF RAINFALL IN SHORT
PERIODS OF TIME.

A FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT TONIGHT FOR AVERY... MITCHELL...
YANCEY... BUNCOMBE... MADISON... AND HENDERSON COUNTIES IN THE NORTH
CAROLINA MOUNTAINS.

PLEASE STAY IN TOUCH WITH THE LATEST WEATHER CONDITIONS AND
FORECASTS.

LGL

The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 128 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:59 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Union

When: June 17, 8:00 PM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where: Union County, Waxhaw
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 34.988, -80.531 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A number of creeks and small streams rose rapidly and overflowed their banks, including the Rocky River, Cane Creek, and Lynches Creek. Thirteen people required rescue after being caught in flood water. This included 6 people whose vehicles were swept into a creek along Sandy Ridge Rd. A house was flooded by Cane Creek.

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

Every storm in North Carolina in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in North Carolina, June 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: 5363777.