Tornado and Hail in South Carolina, July 13, 2003

Name: Tornado and Hail in South Carolina, July 13, 2003
Start: 2003-07-13T14:25
End: 2003-07-13T14:40
Location: South Carolina

July 13, 2003 · NWS GSP · 2 events in 1 county or zone

1 tornado, 1 hail, 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: $125,000
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 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 Jul 13, 7:56 AM EST, 6 hours 29 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 13, 7:56 AM EST, 6 hours 29 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
856 AM EDT SUN JUL 13 2003

EARLY UPDATE TO INCREASE POPS THIS MORNING TO CHANCE. RADAR SHOWS
CONVECTION FIRING ALONG BOUNDARY IN SMOKY MOUNTAINS. EARLIER
ACTIVITY FIZZLED IN UPPER SAVANNAH RIVER VALLEY. INCREASED CLOUDS
TODAY AND LOWERED MAX T ONE DEGREE. UPDATED TEMP/DEW POINT AND WIND
FIELDS TO REFLECT CURRENT OBS AND LATEST PROGS.

FCSTID =    7
GSP   85  67  87  68 /  50  60  30  30
AND   85  68  87  69 /  50  60  30  30
CLT   86  67  87  68 /  50  60  50  50
HKY   83  66  84  67 /  50  60  40  40
AVL   80  62  81  63 /  50  60  30  30

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

O7

Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 13, 3:50 AM EST, 10 hours 35 minutes before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-131100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
450 AM EDT SUN JUL 13 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AND ORGANIZE
ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA IN RESPONSE TO AN UPPER LEVEL TROF MOVING
EAST TOWARD THE SOUTHEAST U.S.. SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD PRODUCE
DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS AND LARGE HAIL.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

SCATTERD...MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
WILL BE POSSIBLE MOST DAYS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.

RB

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 13, 8:52 AM EST, 5 hours 33 minutes before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-132000-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
952 AM EDT SUN JUL 13 2003

...SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP BY THIS AFTERNOON.
SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE...PRODUCING DAMAGING
WIND AND LARGE HAIL. IN ADDITION...THESE STORMS COULD PRODUCE VERY
HEAVY RAINFALL...AND FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. THE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING.

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 YOUR FAVORITE MEDIA OUTLET FOR
THE LATEST UPDATES CONCERNING THIS POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER
SITUATION.

07

Local storm report, Jul 13, 12:58 PM EST, 1 hour 27 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
158 PM EDT SUN JUL 13 2003

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

138 PM     2 S FRANKLIN              NC   .88 INCH HAIL
07/13/03   MACON                          SPOTTER REPORTED NICKEL
                                          SIZED HAIL ACCUMULATING
                                          ON DECK. ESTIMATED WIND
                                          GUSTS TO 60 MPH.

128 PM     5 SE MONROE               NC   FLOODING
07/13/03   UNION                          UNION EOC REPORTED HWY
                                          601 SOUTH COVERED BY 6 TO
                                          8 INCHES OF FLOWING
                                          WATER...MAY BE CLOSED
                                          SOON.

JRL

Local storm report, Jul 13, 2:14 PM EST, 11 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
314 PM EDT SUN JUL 13 2003

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

304 PM     4 NE SIX MILE             SC   1.75 INCH HAIL
07/13/03   PICKENS                        SPOTTER REPORTED GOLF
                                          BALL SIZE HAIL AND TREES
                                          BENT TOTALLY OVER BY
                                          WIND.

248 PM     PICKENS                   SC   WIND DAMAGE
07/13/03   PICKENS                        EOC REPORTED WIND DAMAGE
                                          OF UNKNOWN EXTENT IN MILE
                                          CREEK TRAILER PARK.

JRL

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 34 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:23 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 tornado, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Anderson

When: July 13, 2:25 PM EST to 2:40 PM EST
Where: Anderson County, 10 mi NW of Piedmont
Rating: F1
Path length: 6 mi
Path width: 75 yd
Property damage: $25,000
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 34.800, -82.583

The first Pickens County tornado moved into Anderson County northwest of Piedmont and continued to track southeast before lifting near the community of Wren. The tornado was responsible for widespread damage to trees and powerlines, and also some minor structural damage in Anderson County.

Hail, Anderson

When: July 13, 2:25 PM EST to 2:40 PM EST
Where: Anderson County, 10 mi NW of Piedmont
Measured: 1.5 in hail
Property damage: $100,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 34.800, -82.583

Wind-driven large hail caused considerable damage just ahead of the tornado, particularly in the community of Wren.

What these are

Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.
Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.

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 The tornado archive for South Carolina, 2003 Warnings in South Carolina, July 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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5329605, 5329606.