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 Charleston, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 18, 2:05 AM EST, 4 hours 55 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC 305 AM EDT SUN MAY 18 2003 BACKDOOR FRONT HAS PUSHED ON SOUTHWARD THRU CWFA AND IS DOWN NEAR THE GA/FLA BORDER. FRONTAL BOUNDARY IS BECOMING MORE DIFFUSE WITH TIME. ONSHORE FLOW WILL BECOME BETTER ENTRENCHED OVER THE AREA TODAY AND CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. PLENTY OF STRATI CU WILL BE AROUND WITH THE ELY FLOW AND AS A RESULT...TEMPS SHOULD NOT GET OUT OF THE 70S OVER MOST OF MY SC COUNTIES TDA AND ONLY LWR 80S AT BEST OVER SE GA COUNTIES. UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER THE LOWER MISSISSPPI VALLEY WILL CONT TO DRIFT TO THE S AND WEAKEN OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. HOWEVER SEVERAL WEAK IMPULSES WILL TREK EASTWARD FROM THE LOW AND MOVE ACROSS THE MY CWFA. LI/S THIS AFTN ARE EXPECTED TO BE IN THE -4 TO -6 RANGE. THE BEST DYNAMICS WILL BE OVER SE GA. EXPECT SEA BREEZE TO INTERACT WITH THE REMNANT BOUNDARIES FROM PREVIOUS CONVECTION AND WEAK S/WV ENERGY MOVING ACROSS THE REGION TO TIGGER CONVECTION AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON. SPC CURRENTLY HAS A LARGE PORTION OF CWFA IN THE SLIGHT RISK CAT. STILL THINK SE GA WILL BE MOST FAVORABLE LOCATION IN MY CWA BUT CANNOT RULE OUT ISOLD SVR COMPLETELY OVER S COASTAL SC. SEA BREEZE WILL BE THE PRIMARY FOCUS FOR TSTMS MON THRU TUE. THEN NEXT FRONT APPROACHES THE AREA LATE WED AND THU TO BRING A BETTER THREAT OF TSTMS. GFS HAS THE FRONT MOVING TO COASTAL COUNTIES OF GA/SC DURING THE DAY THU AND HANGING UP ALONG THE COAST INTO FRI. FRONT LOOKS LIKE IT SHOULD CLEAR THE COAST FRI AND THINGS FINALLY DRY OUT OVER THE WEEKEND. WILL HAVE TO KEEP A CLOSE WATCH ON PRECIP THAT DEVELOPS OVER INTERIOR GA COUNTIES TODAY THRU MON. GROUND ALREADY SATURATED FROM THE SLOW MOVING TSTMS ON SAT EVE. DOPPLER RADAR ESTIMATED AS MUCH AS 4 TO 8 INCHES OVER PORTIONS OF JENKINS...SCREVEN...CANDLER AND BULLOCH COUNTIES. MARINE... IN THE SHORT TERM...SFC PRES GRADIENT PINCHED OFF ALONG THE SOUTH CAROLINA COAST EARLY THIS MORNING. WILL HAVE A SCA TO INITIALIZE FROM EDISTO BEACH TO S SANTEE. SCEC IN THE CHARLESTON HARBOR AND THE OCEAN WATERS DOWN TO SAVANNAH WITH NO FLAGS IN OUR GEORGIA WATERS...ALTHOUGH ELY FLOW SHOULD INCREASE TODAY. SEAS PROBABLY WILL NOT HAVE MUCH TIME TO SUBSIDE WITH ONSHORE FLOW LATE TODAY AND TONIGHT AND ANOTHER STRONG WEDGE REINFORCEMENT IS ON TAP MON WITH CONDITIONS BACK TO SCA CRITERIA. THIS TIME THE NE FLOW SHOULD DRIVE INTO OUR GEORGIA WATERS AND WILL HEADLINE SCA POSSIBLE GEORGIA WATERS MON AFTN. SCA FOR SEAS WILL PROBABLY CONTINUE ON TUE WITH ENE FLOW. WED AND THU...FLOW VEERS AS SFC LOW PRES MOVES INTO S GEORGIA. SHALLOW COASTAL FLOODING EXPECTED AGAIN TONIGHT...HEADLINES ARE ANTICIPATED FOR THIS AFTERNOONS PACKAGE GIVEN CURRENT TRENDS FOR INCREASING TIDAL DEPARTURES. .CHS... GA...NONE. SC...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY AMZ350. 30/24
AMZ330-350-352-354-370-374-GAZ087-088-099>101-114>119-137>141-SCZ040- 042>045-047>051-181030- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC 438 AM EDT SUN MAY 18 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA... SOUTHEAST GEORGIA AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS FROM SOUTH SANTEE RIVER SOUTH CAROLINA TO ALTAMAHA SOUND GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. .SEVERE WEATHER...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTHEAST GEORGIA AND SOUTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. REFER TO THE LATEST SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK ISSUED BY THIS OFFICE FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. .RIVER FLOODING...A RIVER FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE LOWER SANTEE RIVER AT JAMESTOWN AS WELL AS FOR THE SAVANNAH RIVER AT CLYO AND BURTONS FERRY. PLEASE REFER TO THE LATEST RIVER FLOOD STATEMENT MORE SPECIFIC INFORMATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...DAY THROUGH DAY. .RIVER FLOODING...RIVER FLOODING WILL CONTINUE ON THE LOWER SANTEE RIVER AT JAMESTOWN...AND ON THE SAVANNAH RIVER AT CLYO AND BURTONS FERRY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAYBE REQUIRED TODAY OR TONIGHT. 30
GAZ087-088-099>101-114>119-137>141-SCZ040-042>045-047>051-182045- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON SC 443 AM EDT SUN MAY 18 2003 ...A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR ALL OF SOUTH COASTAL SOUTH CAROLINA AND SOUTHEAST GEORGIA... A FRONTAL BOUNDARY IS LOCATED OVER THE LOWER SOUTHEAST GEORGIA COAST THIS MORNING. A SEA BREEZE IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AND MOVE INLAND AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON. ANY INTERACTION BETWEEN THE SEA BREEZE WITH LEFT OVER BOUNDARIES FROM SATURDAY EVENINGS THUNDERSTORMS COULD ACT AS A FOCUSING MECHANISM TO GENERATE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS. THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL AND STRONG WINDS WITH THE STRONGEST CONVECTION. LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES...EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS AND SPOTTER GROUPS SHOULD MONITOR THE LATEST WEATHER CONDITIONS AND BE PREPARED FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. 30
The Charleston,SC radar (KCLX), 47 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:00 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flood water was knee deep and several roads were closed on Parris Island.
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, May 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: 5361718.