Flood in South Carolina, March 20 to 21, 2003

Name: Flood in South Carolina, March 20 to 21, 2003
Start: 2003-03-20T12:00
End: 2003-03-21T06:00
Location: South Carolina

March 20 to 21, 2003 · NWS GSP · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Flooding continued across the county through the early morning of the 21st.

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
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 happened

The episode as NWS GSP wrote it up.

Flooding continued across the county through the early morning of the 21st.

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 Mar 20, 10:47 AM EST, 1 hour 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 20, 10:47 AM EST, 1 hour 13 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
1047 AM EST THU MAR 20 2003

WILL LEAVE FLOOD WATCH AS IS TODAY. SIGNIFICANT FLOODING STILL
ONGOING AND MORE LIKELY AS MODERATE RAIN AREA MOVES NORTH THROUGH
CWFA. STILL EXPECTING CONVECTION THIS AFTERNOON...SO FLOODING
POSSIBLE IN AREAS WHERE NO FLOODS HAVE YET OCCURRED. WEDGE MUCH
STRONGER THAN PREV FCST...SO HAVE LOWERED MAX TEMPS TODAY AND KEPT
ELY WINDS OUTSIDE OF THE MTNS. WILL KEEP CAT POPS AS WELL...ALTHOUGH
THERE WILL BE A BREAK IN PRECIP SEVERAL AREAS.

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

NC...FLOOD WATCH FOR TODAY FOR ZONES NCZ033>037...NCZ048>059...
NCZ062>072...NCZ082.

SC...FLOOD WATCH FOR TODAY FOR ZONES SCZ001>014...SCZ019.

RWH

Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 20, 5:25 AM EST, 6 hours 35 minutes before

GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-201215-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
525 AM EST THU MAR 20 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

A FLOOD WATCH (FFAGSP) REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR TODAY ACROSS THE
WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA. THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY SOUTH
AND EAST OF INTERSTATE 85...COULD PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS...THE POTENTIAL FOR AN TORNADO ALSO EXISTS. PLEASE SEE THE
SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK (SPSGSP) FOR FURTHER DETAILS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MAY LINGER INTO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS ON
FRIDAY...EAST OF INTERSTATE 85. PLEASE SEE THE ABOVE MENTIONED
SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY THROUGH EARLY FRIDAY MORNING.

NED

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Greater Greenville

When: March 20, 12:00 PM EST to March 21, 6:00 AM EST
Where: Greater Greenville forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT

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 South Carolina in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in South Carolina, March 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: 5348533.