South Carolina, 2003

Damaging Wind in South Carolina, August 16, 2003

August 16, 2003 · NWS GSP · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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
$300,000
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 Aug 16, 12:45 PM EST, 2 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 16, 12:45 PM EST, 2 hours 10 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
145 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003

UPPER TROF APPROACHING FROM THE NW WILL MOVE THRU BY LATE THIS EVE
AND CONVECTION WILL MOVE E WITH IT. WITH WEAK RIDGE BUILDING
OVERNIGHT EXPECT PATCHY FOG EARLY SUN MORNING. ANOTHER SHORTWAVE
TROF FCST TO MOVE THRU THE AREA TOMORROW. EXPECT STRONGEST PVA/BEST
LIFT IN THE AFTN-EARLY EVE PERIODS. ON MON AFTN GFS SHOWS ANOTHER
SHRTWV APPROACHING AND ALTHOUGH DEEPER MOISTURE MOVES SE...WILL HOLD
ON TO AT LEAST SLIGHT CHANCE POPS. SURFACE RIDGE BUILDS OVER AREA
TUE-FRI AND HAVE SLIGHT CHANCE LATE DAY POPS IN THE GRIDS. A SFC
BOUNDARY IS PROGGED TO MOVE IN SAT...BRINGING ANOTHER CHANCE OF
CONVECTION TO THE AREA.

FCSTID = 77
GSP   71  88  69  88 /  40  40  40  20
AND   71  88  70  89 /  40  40  40  20
CLT   71  88  69  88 /  40  40  40  20
HKY   69  87  68  87 /  40  40  40  20
AVL   65  84  64  84 /  40  40  40  20

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

RB
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 16, 5:10 AM EST, 9 hours 45 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-161200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
610 AM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE REGION
THROUGHOUT THE DAY AND EVENING. THERE IS A CHANCE THAT A FEW
THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE LARGE HAIL OR DAMAGING WIND GUSTS FOR A
BRIEF TIME. THERE IS ALSO THE POSSIBILITY THAT A FEW OF THE STORMS
COULD PRODUCE ENOUGH RAIN TO CAUSE FLOODING OF URBAN AND POOR
DRAINAGE AREAS IN LOCATIONS THAT HAVE RECEIVED EXCESSIVE RAIN IN THE
LAST FEW WEEKS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

ANOTHER ROUND OF SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED SUNDAY AND
SUNDAY EVENING. THERE IS A SLIGHTLY BETTER CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER
LATE IN THE DAY. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO EXPECTED MONDAY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED ON SUNDAY.

MOORE

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 16, 12:33 PM EST, 2 hours 22 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
133 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003

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

900 AM     5-10 SE SALISBURY         NC   FLASH FLOOD
08/16/03   ROWAN                          SPOTTER REPORTED FLASH
                                          FLOODING OF SMALL STREAMS
                                          AROUND GRANITE QUARRY AND
                                          ROCKWELL RESULTED IN
                                          FLOODED ROADS...HOUSES...
                                          APARTMENTS...AND CARS.
                                          UNTIL 11 AM...BUT SOME
                                          ROADS STILL FLOODED AFTER
                                          NOON.

JONES
Local storm report, Aug 16, 1:09 PM EST, 1 hour 46 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
209 PM EDT SAT AUG 16 2003

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

145 PM     2 W PAULINE               SC   .75 INCH HAIL
08/16/03   SPARTANBURG                    PUBLIC/SPOTTER REPORT.
                                          ALSO LOTS OF LIGHTNING.

JONES

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Greenville

When
August 16, 2:55 PM EST
Where
Greenville County, Greenville Downtown
Measured
65 kt (75 mph) estimated gust
Property damage
$300,000
Reported by
NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates
34.867, -82.383

A microburst caused damage to 12 airplanes and 3 hangars at Greenville Municipal Airport. One plane was blown about 300 feet into the side of a hangar, causing the plane to break in half. Three single-engine planes were flipped over. A concrete block wall was also blown over.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

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

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in South Carolina in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in South Carolina, August 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: 5374150.