2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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.
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.
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 Columbia, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 5, 2:07 PM EST, 48 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 307 PM EDT TUE AUG 5 2003 DISC: 18Z SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS WEAK TROF ALONG THE MOUNTAINS THIS AFTERNOON. SATELLITE SHOWS PARTLY CLOUDY/SUNNY SKIES ACROSS THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON. 88D SHOWS SHRA/TSRA CONTINUING TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE NORTHWEST PORTION OF THE CWA THIS AFTERNOON. BOTH GFS/ETA IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH OVERALL PATTERN TRENDS THROUGH THE PERIOD. THERE AREA SOME SUBTLE DIFFERENCES IN SHORTWAVE POSITIONS AND TIMING...BUT BOTH CONTINUE THE SUMMERTIME TREND OF TROF ACROSS THE EASTERN US AND RIDGE ACROSS THE WESTERN US. AS FOR EXTENDED...PATTERN CONTINUES. SPC HAS AREA IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 7 PM THIS EVENING. LOOKS AS THOUGH BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE WILL BE ACROSS THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE CWA LATE THIS AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING. RUC/MESOETA SHOWS S/W TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA DURING THIS PERIOD. MESOETA HAS ENERGY A BIT FARTHER NORTH...BUT STILL BEST FOCUS ACROSS NORTHERN CWA. ON WEDNESDAY...TROF REMAINS ACROSS THE AREA...BUT MODELS SHOW VERY LITTLE IN THE WAY OF SHORTWAVE ENERGY MOVING ACROSS THE AREA. AT THE SURFACE...WEAK TROF REMAINS ACROSS THE AREA. THIS ALONG WITH DAYTIME HEATING SHOULD BE SUFFICIENT FOR AFTERNOON SHRA/TSRA. THIS SHOULD CONTINUE INTO WEDNESDAY EVENING/NIGHT. BETTER CHANCES ACROSS THE AREA ON THURSDAY WITH BETTER UPPER SUPPORT ALONG WITH SLIGHTLY STRONGER FRONTAL BOUNDARY/TROF. GUIDANCE AND LOCAL EQUATIONS SIMILAR THROUGH THE PERIOD WITH BOTH POPS AND TEMPERATURES AND WILL NOT DIFFER MUCH FROM CONSENSUS NUMBERS. FCSTID = 77 CAE 72 90 72 88 / 30 40 30 50 AGS 70 90 70 88 / 30 40 30 50 SSC 72 89 72 87 / 30 40 30 50 OGB 71 90 71 88 / 30 40 30 50 .CAE... GA...NONE. SC...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 700 PM EDT TUESDAY FOR ZONES SCC025...SCC039...SCC055...SCC057...SCC061...SCC063...SCC071... SCC079...SCC081...SCC085. LCV
SCZ015-016-018-020>022-025>031-035>038-041-GAZ040-063>065- 077-051501- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 501 AM EDT TUE AUG 05 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE MIDLANDS OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA OF GEORGIA. .DAY ONE... A WARM UNSTABLE AIRMASS IS IN PLACE OVER THE FORECAST AREA TODAY. AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE ACROSS THE MIDLANDS AND CSRA AND TRIGGER WIDELY SCATTERED AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY BE SEVERE AND PRODUCE HAIL TO 1 INCH AND WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON OR EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... A COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE MIDLANDS AND CSRA WEDNESDAY AND STALL OVER THE AREA. THIS, COMBINED WITH AN UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM, WILL BRING A CHANCE OF ISOLATED OR WIDELY SCATTERED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY INTO THURSDAY. SJN
SCZ015-016-018-020>022-025>031-035>038-041-GAZ040-063>065- 077-052013- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 213 PM EDT TUE AUG 05 2003 A STRONG THUNDERSTORM HAS DEVELOPED NEAR EDGEFIELD IN EDGEFIELD COUNTY. THE STORM WILL MOVE TO THE NORTHEAST AT 15 MILES PER HOUR. THE STRONGER STORMS WILL PRODUCE WIND GUST TO 45 MILES PER HOUR... HAIL TO ONE HALF INCH AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING. THIS STORM WILL MOVE IN TO EASTERN SALUDA...NORTHWEST AIKEN AND SOUTHWEST LEXINGTON COUNTIES THROUGH 4 PM. THE AIRMASS HAS BECOME VERY UNSTABLE AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE LATER THIS AFTERNOON. ELSEWHERE WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AND BECOME MORE NUMEROUS THROUGH 5 PM.
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 30 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:54 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
NWS Storm Survey found several trees down on I-20 near Chapin.
Several roads flooded and closed in the Lloyd Woods subdivision. Hwy 321 near Busbee road closed with several vehicles submerged. Water also got into some businesses.
Sheriff reported several trees down in Whitmire along with pea size hail.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in South Carolina in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in South Carolina, August 2003
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: 5370913, 5370914, 5370915.