Flood in South Carolina, March 6, 2003

Name: Flood in South Carolina, March 6, 2003
Start: 2003-03-06T08:00
End: 2003-03-06T10:00
Location: South Carolina

March 6, 2003 · NWS GSP · 1 event in 1 county or zone

A bridge over Blue Hill Creek was flooded in the city of Abbeville. Overflowing creeks flooded some roads just outside of town.

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: 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.

A bridge over Blue Hill Creek was flooded in the city of Abbeville. Overflowing creeks flooded some roads just outside of town.

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 6, 7:32 AM EST, 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 6, 7:32 AM EST, 28 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 6, 6:20 AM EST, 1 hour 40 minutes before

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In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 6, 2:20 AM EST, 5 hours 40 minutes before

SCZ003-006-007-012-013-061015-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
220 AM EST THU MAR 6 2003

...A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS TO AFFECT THE INTERSTATE 26 AND
INTERSTATE 385 CORRIDOR IN UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA THROUGH 4 AM...

AT 220 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE
OF THUNDERSTORMS RACING EAST AT 60 MPH ACROSS THE WESTERN UPSTATE OF
SOUTH CAROLINA. THIS LINE WILL AFFECT THE AREA FROM GREENVILLE TO
LAURENS THROUGH 330 AM...AND REACH FROM SPARTANBURG TO UNION AROUND
4 AM. GUSTY WINDS TO 40 MPH...MARBLE SIZE HAIL...TORRENTIAL
DOWNPOURS PRODUCING 1/2 TO 1 INCH OF RAIN...AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING
WILL ACCOMPANY THIS LINE.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL CLOSELY MONITOR THE PROGRESS OF
THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS IN CASE ANY WARNINGS BECOME NECESSARY.

HG

Local storm report, Mar 6, 2:55 AM EST, 5 hours 5 minutes before

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Local storm report, Mar 6, 5:51 AM EST, 2 hours 9 minutes before

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Local storm report, Mar 6, 6:05 AM EST, 1 hour 55 minutes before

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The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Abbeville

When: March 6, 8:00 AM EST to 10:00 AM EST
Where: Abbeville forecast zone
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 34.223, -82.459 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5348424.