Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in South Carolina, August 17, 2003

Name: Damaging Wind and Lightning Strike in South Carolina, August 17, 2003
Start: 2003-08-17T18:40
End: 2003-08-17T18:40
Location: South Carolina

August 17, 2003 · NWS GSP · 2 events in 1 county or zone

High winds caused a porch on a house to collapse. Lightning also sparked several fires.

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: $5,000
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 happened

The episode as NWS GSP wrote it up.

High winds caused a porch on a house to collapse. Lightning also sparked several fires.

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 17, 6:08 PM EST, 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 17, 6:08 PM EST, 32 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
708 PM EDT SUN AUG 17 2003

UPDATE FORTHCOMING TO REMOVE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM HEADLINES FROM
COUNTIES THAT WERE IN WEATHER WATCH 865. WILL ALSO LOWER POPS IN THE
NORTHERN FOOTHILLS AND THE NORTH CAROLINA MOUNTAINS.

FCSTID =   44
GSP   70  89  68  88 /  60  30  30  20
AND   70  90  69  89 /  60  30  30  20
CLT   70  89  69  88 /  60  30  30  20
HKY   69  88  67  87 /  40  30  30  20
AVL   64  85  64  83 /  40  30  30  20

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

BURRUS

Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 17, 4:45 AM EST, 13 hours 55 minutes before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-171145-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
545 AM EDT SUN AUG 17 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SLOWLY TOWARD THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND
NORTHEAST GEORGIA TODAY. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL ACCOMPANY
THIS FRONT INTO THE AREA. SOME OF THESE STORMS COULE PRODUCE SEVERE
WEATHER AND LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING. PLEASE SEE THE SEVERE WEATHER
OUTLOOK...CAESPSGSP FOR FURTHER INFORMATION.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ON MONDAY. A
FEW SEVERE STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE. THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK IS
EXPECTED TO BE DRIER...WITH NO MORE THAN ISOLATED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED THROUGH THE PERIOD.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED TODAY.

LANE

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 17, 3:46 PM EST, 2 hours 54 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
446 PM EDT SUN AUG 17 2003

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

410 PM     7 E LINCOLNTON            NC   WIND DAMAGE
08/17/03   LINCOLN                        TRAINED HAM SPOTTER
                                          REPORTED TWO TREES DOWN
                                          ON HWY 150...ONE 18 IN
                                          DIAMETER AND THE OTHER
                                          ABOUT 12.

415 PM     3 E CHERRYVILLE           NC   NON-SVR REPORT
08/17/03   GASTON                         HAM REPORTED 45-50 MPH
                                          WIND GUST...TORRENTIAL
                                          RAIN PARTIALLY IMPEDING
                                          TRAFFIC AND FREQUENT
                                          LIGHTNING.

LAMB

Local storm report, Aug 17, 4:07 PM EST, 2 hours 33 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
507 PM EDT SUN AUG 17 2003

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

448 PM     WACO                      NC   WIND DAMAGE
08/17/03   CLEVELAND                      EMERGENCY PERSONNEL
                                          REPORTED TREES DOWN.

459 PM     SHELBY                    NC   WIND DAMAGE
08/17/03   CLEVELAND                      EMERGENCY PERSONNEL
                                          REPORTED TREES DOWN.

RB

Local storm report, Aug 17, 4:08 PM EST, 2 hours 32 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
508 PM EDT SUN AUG 17 2003

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

450 PM     BELWOOD                   NC   1.75 INCH HAIL
08/17/03   CLEVELAND                      SPOTTER REPORTED GOLFBALL
                                          SIZE HAIL AND 40 MPH WIND
                                          GUST.

LAMB

Local storm report, Aug 17, 5:00 PM EST, 1 hour 40 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
600 PM EDT SUN AUG 17 2003

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

530 PM     GROVER                    NC   WIND DAMAGE
08/17/03   CLEVELAND                      COUNTY 911 REPORTED A
                                          TREE DOWN ON A HOUSE.
                                          ALSO WATERSON RD FLOODED.
                                          EVENT TIME ESTIMATED.

545 PM     2 N BLACKSBURG            SC   WIND DAMAGE
08/17/03   CHEROKEE                       911 CENTER REPORTED TREES
                                          DOWN.

LAMB

Local storm report, Aug 17, 5:06 PM EST, 1 hour 34 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
606 PM EDT SUN AUG 17 2003

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

550 PM     CORNELIA                  GA   WIND DAMAGE
08/17/03   HABERSHAM                      TREES AND POWER LINES
                                          DOWN ACROSS THE SOUTHERN
                                          PART OF THE COUNTY.
                                          REPORTED BY COUNTY COMMS
                                          CENTER.

MCAVOY

Local storm report, Aug 17, 5:34 PM EST, 1 hour 6 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
634 PM EDT SUN AUG 17 2003

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

605 PM     GAFFNEY                   SC   WIND DAMAGE
08/17/03   CHEROKEE                       COUNTY 911 REPORTED
                                          WINDOWS BLOWN OUT OF A
                                          BUILDING. ALSO CARS
                                          FLOODED IN A PARKING LOT.

630 PM     2 S ROCKWELL              NC   FLASH FLOOD
08/17/03   ROWAN                          SPOTTER REPORTED
                                          TRIBUTARY OF JENNIE WOLF
                                          CREEK OUT OF BANKS ONTO
                                          SHUPING MILL RD AT
                                          ROWAN-CABARRUS COUNTY
                                          LINE. ROAD IS IMPASSABLE.
                                          SEVERAL OTHER ROADS IN
                                          SOUTHERN ROWAN ARE
                                          COVERED IN WATER.

LAMB

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, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Pickens

When: August 17, 6:40 PM EST
Where: Pickens County, Pickens
Measured: 50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Property damage: $5,000
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.883, -82.700

Lightning, Pickens

When: August 17, 6:40 PM EST
Where: Pickens County, Pickens
Reported by: NEWSPAPER
Coordinates: 34.888, -82.725 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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.
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 South Carolina in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings 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: 5374455, 5374456.