Flooding in North Carolina, May 7, 2003

Name: Flooding in North Carolina, May 7, 2003
Start: 2003-05-07T11:00
End: 2003-05-07T16:00
Location: North Carolina

May 7, 2003 · NWS GSP · 5 events in 5 counties and zones

Although flash flooding abated by noon across the southern mountains, many creeks and streams remained above flood stage through the afternoon hours.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 5 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: 5

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 happened

The episode as NWS GSP wrote it up.

Although flash flooding abated by noon across the southern mountains, many creeks and streams remained above flood stage through the afternoon hours.

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 7, 9:50 AM EST, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 7, 9:50 AM EST, 1 hour 10 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1050 AM EDT WED MAY 7 2003

A LITTLE LIGHT RAIN IS QUICKLY DRYING UP OVER THE I40 CORRIDOR...THE
REMNANTS OF AN MCS WHICH CROSSED THE MTNS EARLIER THIS MORNING.
OTHER THAN THAT...THE CWA LOOKS TO DRY OUT FOR A FEW HOURS THIS
MORNING AND INTO THE EARLY AFTERNOON.

THIS SHOULD ALLOW TEMPS AND DWPTS TO RECOVER SOME THIS
AFTERNOON...AHEAD OF THE NEXT UPSTREAM MCV WHICH THE 12 UTC ETA
BRINGS ACROSS THE CWA AROUND 21 UTC. THIS IS A STRONG LOOKING WAVE
ON THE ETA. MID LEVEL WINDS ARE PROGGED TO BE AROUND 60 KTS...WITH
0-6KM SHEAR WELL IN EXCESS OF 40 KTS. OUTFLOW BNDRYS ARE
EVERYWHERE...THOUGH THE BEST TEMPERATURE AND MOISTURE DISCONTINUITY
REMAINS ACROSS THE SRN PART OF THE UPSTATE. EXPECT SHORT...BOWING
MCS/S AND A FEW SUPERCELLS TO AGAIN DEVELOP TO OUR WEST AND SPREAD
ACROSS THE CWA. DEPENDING ON THE AMOUNT OF T/TD RECOVERY...SEVERE
WEATHER COULD BE FAIRLY WIDESPREAD...WITH THE THREAT AGAIN TDA OF
ISOLATED TORNADOS IN THE SRN PART OF THE UPSTATE AS SFC WNDS BACK
AHEAD OF THE STRONG VORT.

CONVECTION SHOULD RAPIDLY MOVE EAST TNGT...BUT WL RUN HIGHER POPS
INTO THE EVENING HOURS TO TAKE CARE OF THE END OF THE MCS. WL ALSO
ADD SEVERE WORDING TO THE ZONES FOR THE AFTN.

IN ADDITION...WIDESPREAD FLOODING CONTINUES IN THE SOUTHWEST
MOUNTAINS. WL CONTINUE THE FLOOD WATCH THROUGH THE AFTN. SEVERAL
LOCATIONS IN THE SW NC MTNS HAVE HAD 7 OR MORE INCHES OF RAIN THE
PAST TWO DAYS.

.GSP...
GA...FLOOD WATCH FOR THIS AFTERNOON FOR ZONES
GAZ010...GAZ017>018...GAZ026...GAZ028>029.

NC...FLOOD WATCH FOR THIS AFTERNOON FOR ZONES
NCZ048...NCZ051>053...NCZ058>059...NCZ062>067.

SC...FLOOD WATCH FOR THIS AFTERNOON FOR ZONES
SCZ001>007...SCZ010>012...SCZ019.

MCAVOY

Hazardous weather outlook, May 7, 3:30 AM EST, 7 hours 30 minutes before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-071100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
430 AM EDT WED MAY 7 2003

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

.DAY ONE...

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED AGAIN TODAY...SOME WITH LARGE HAIL
AND DAMAGING WIND. ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. FLOODING IS
LIKELY TO BE A SERIOUS CONCERN ...ESPECIALLY FOR THOSE COUNTIES THAT
HAVE ALREADY EXPERIENCED HIGH WATER PROBLEMS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. SOME MAY BECOME
SEVERE...ESPECIALLY LATE AFTERNOON THROUGH EVENING.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY.

RB

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 7, 8:33 AM EST, 2 hours 27 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
933 AM EDT WED MAY 07 2003

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

235 PM     8 SW HARTWELL             GA   TORNADO
05/06/03   HART                           HART CO 911 REPORTED
                                          TREES DOWNED ON PULLIAN
                                          LANE AND LIBERTY HILL
                                          CHURCH ROAD IN SOUTHERN
                                          HART COUNTY.

TJB

Special weather statement, May 7, 9:41 AM EST, 1 hour 19 minutes before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-072000-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1041 AM EDT WED MAY 7 2003

...SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS THE
WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA...

THE ATMOSPHERE IS STILL EXPECTED TO BECOME WARM AND UNSTABLE ACROSS
THE REGION TODAY. WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORMS WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS...
ACROSS TENNESSEE AND ALABAMA WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE EAST TOWARD OUR
AREA INTO THE AFTERNOON HOURS. A SUPPORTING AREA OF UPPER LEVEL LOW
PRESSURE WILL FOLLOW SUIT. AS THIS LOW MOVES INTO THE AREA...IT
SHOULD TRIGGER ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. IN ADDITION...
VARIOUS LOW LEVEL BOUNDARIES LEFT BEHIND BY EARLIER STORM SYSTEMS
COULD PROVIDE A FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT.

THE MAIN THREAT WITH ANY STORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING WILL BE
DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL...BUT THERE ALSO WILL BE A THREAT OF
ISOLATED TORNADOES...ESPECIALLY WITH STORMS DEVELOPING ALONG OR
INTERACTING WITH LOW LEVEL BOUNDARIES.

ALTHOUGH SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE ENTIRE REGION
THIS AFTERNOON...IT APPEARS THAT THE BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE WEATHER
WILL BE WITHIN THE MORE UNSTABLE AIR ACROSS UPSTATE SOUTH
CAROLINA...NORTHEAST GEORGIA...AND THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES OF NORTH
CAROLINA.

SPOTTER GROUPS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO ACTIVATE QUICKLY LATE THIS
AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING. DISPATCHERS SHOULD ENSURE COUNTY
EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS ARE AWARE OF THIS INFORMATION.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR THE MEDIA FOR THE LATEST WEATHER
INFORMATION OR SEVERE WEATHER WATCHES OR WARNINGS.

55

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

5 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Northern Jackson

When: May 7, 11:00 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
Where: Northern Jackson forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.287, -83.141 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Southern Jackson

When: May 7, 11:00 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
Where: Southern Jackson forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.287, -83.141 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Macon

When: May 7, 11:00 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
Where: Macon forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.150, -83.422 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Graham

When: May 7, 11:00 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
Where: Graham forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.350, -83.834 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Flood, Swain

When: May 7, 11:00 AM EST to 4:00 PM EST
Where: Swain forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 35.487, -83.493 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

Every storm in North Carolina in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5356661, 5356662, 5356663, 5356664, 5356665.