North Carolina, 2003

Flood in North Carolina, May 5 to 6, 2003

May 5 to 6, 2003 · NWS GSP · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 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
None recorded
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 May 5, 8:20 PM EST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 5, 8:20 PM EST, 3 hours 10 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
920 PM EDT MON MAY 5 2003

FLOODING CONTINUES TO BE OUR MAIN CONCERN THIS EVENING
AS TSTMS DISPT WHEN THEY HIT THE REMNANTS OF THE WEDGE
OVER THE CAROLINAS.  MINOR FLOODING HAS BEEN REPORTED
IN THE MOUNTAINS WITH ONE BRIDGE WASHED OUT 2 HOURS
AGO.  PLAN TO KEEP THE WATCH IN EFFECT THROUGH THE
NIGHT.

SVR TSTMS ACTIVITY IS STILL OFF TO THE WEST.  18Z
MODEL RUNS SEEM TO PUSH MOST ACTIVITY TO OUR SOUTH
TONIGHT ALONG THERMAL BOUNDARY THEN REFOCUS TOMORROW
IN NORTH CAROLINA AS A SERIES OF IMPULSES MOVE ACROSS
THE MOUNTAINS.

NO MAJOR CHANGES EXPECTED IN EVENING UPDATE EXCEPT
TO MODIFY TONIGHTS MINS TO FIT CURRENT LOWER TEMPS.

.GSP...
GA...FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT AND TUE MORNING FOR ZONES
GAZ010...GAZ017>018.

NC...FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT AND TUE MORNING FOR ZONES
NCZ048...NCZ051>053...NCZ058>059...NCZ062>065.

SC...FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT AND TUE MORNING FOR ZONES
SCZ001>002...SCZ004>005.

DICARLO
Hazardous weather outlook, May 5, 3:53 AM EST, 19 hours 37 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-051100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
453 AM EDT MON MAY 5 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE TODAY...SOME WITH TORNADOES...LARGE
HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED TODAY.

RB

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 5, 8:56 PM EST, 2 hours 34 minutes before
NCZ058-062-060245-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
956 PM EDT MON MAY 5 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IS MONITORING A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM
IN SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA.  THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING
SEVERE WEATHER.

WHILE THE STRONGEST PART OF THE STORM WILL MOVE THROUGH CHEROKEE AND
CLAY COUNTIES...PERSONS IN SOUTHERN GRAHAM AND MACON COUNTIES SHOULD
BE PREPARED FOR STRONG GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND HAIL.

LOCAL FLOODING IS POSSIBLE IN HEAVIER DOWNPOURS.  MOTORISTS ARE
URGED TO USE EXTREME CARE.  MOST FLOOD FATALITIES OCCUR IN VEHICLES
DURING THE NIGHT.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF
THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.

DICARLO
Special weather statement, May 5, 9:17 PM EST, 2 hours 13 minutes before
GAZ010-060315-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1015 PM EDT MON MAY 5

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IS MONITORING A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM
IN SOUTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA.  THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING
SEVERE WEATHER.

AT 1015 PM RADAR INDICATED THE STORM WAS MOVING INTO CLAY COUNTY
NORTH CAROLINA.  IT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE SOOUTHEASTWARD ACROSS
NORTHERN RABUN COUNTY BETWEEN 1030 AND 1100 PM.

THIS STORM IS SLOWLY WEAKENING BUT IT CAN STILL PRODUCE STRONG
GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...HAIL AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.

MOTORISTS IN RABUN COUNTY ARE URGED TO USE CAUTION IN THIS STORM.
REMEMBER MOST FLOOD FATALITIES OCCUR IN VEHICLES AT NIGHT.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF
THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.

DICARLO

The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Swain

When
May 5, 11:30 PM EST to May 6, 5:00 PM EST
Where
Swain forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
35.487, -83.493 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

A prolonged period of heavy rainfall resulted in gradual rises along creeks and streams, and flooding eventually developed during the early morning hours of the 6th. The Little Tennessee River was the first major stream to overflow its banks, which caused some flooding of adjacent roadways. Meanwhile, the Tuckaseegee and Oconaluftee Rivers and many other small tributaries began to flood during the pre-dawn hours.

What these are

Flood
Flooding that develops more slowly than a flash flood: rivers leaving their banks, or water standing over land for an extended time.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in North Carolina in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, May 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: 5357282.