South Carolina, 2003

Flood in South Carolina, May 22, 2003

May 22, 2003 · NWS GSP · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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 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 May 22, 1:40 AM EST, 5 hours 50 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 22, 1:40 AM EST, 5 hours 50 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
240 AM EDT THU MAY 22 2003

SFC ANALYSIS SHOWS STATIONARY FRONT ALONG A LINE FROM RWI TO CAE AND
MCN. IN OTHER WORDS...JUST S OF THE CWA. WEAK CAD IS TRYING TO WORK
INTO THE NRN MOST ZONES ATTM. MSAS SHOWS PRESSURE RISES ON THE E
SIDE OF THE MTNS AND PRESSURE FALLS OVER TN AND KY WHERE INVERTED
TROF IS DEVELOPING UNDER AND AREA OF GOOD UPPER LEVEL DIVERGENCE.
WATER VAPOR SHOWS THE BROAD LONG WAVE OVER THE ERN STATES GRADUALLY
SETTLING SOUTH...WITH ONE RATHER WELL DEFINE SHORT WAVE OVER THE
LOWER MS RIVER VALLEY.

ENTRANCE REGION OF STRENGTHENING UPPER TROPOSPHERIC JET WL SIT OVER
THE REGION TDA. THE JET SHIFTS JUST TO THE EAST OF THE REGION LATER
TNGT AND FRI AS THAT SHORT WAVE CROSSES THE REGION...W/RESULTANT SFC
WAVE DEVELOPING ALONG TMB...NEAR THE COAST. IT WL BE A CLOSE CALL ON
HEAVY RAIN LATE TNGT AND FRI...BUT HEAVY PCPN WL DEFINITELY OCCUR
OVER THE WRN CAROLINAS AND NE GA TDA... PARTICULARLY THE FOOTHILLS
AND ERN SLOPES WHERE ETA HAS GOOD LLVL AGEO FLOW DEVELOPING. IN
FACT...HEAVY RAIN IS ALREADY FILLING IN ACROSS THE CWFA. THE LLVL
ADJUSTMENT ON THE ETA TAKES THE SFC WINDS SE...EVEN THOUGH THE
PRESSURES ARE HIGHER ALONG THE ERN SLOPES. THAT IS AN INTERESTING
SIGNAL...BUT WL KEEP WINDS NE AS THE CAD SHOULD WIN OUT OVER THE
OTHER LLVL ADJUSTMENTS.

LOOKS LIKE A COUPLE INCHES OF RAIN WL BE POSSIBLE JUST N OF THE SFC
BNDRY THIS MORNING AND EARLY THIS AFTN...AND WL KEEP THE FFA FOR TDA
AND TNGT. NOT AS IMPRESSED W/THE FORCING OVERNIGHT AS THE
CONSOLIDATING SFC LOW WL PROBABLY RESULT IN DIMINISHED UPSLOPE AS
DEEP LAYER NE FLOW DEVELOPS ON THE NW QUAD OF THE LOW. HOWEVER...THE
CURRENT WATCH RUNS THROUGH TNGT...AND THERE IS A CHANCE THAT LLVL
FORCING COULD KEEP PCPN AROUND INTO THE EVENING...SO WL KEEP THE FFA
UP THROUGH TNGT.

LATER TNGT AND FRI MODELS TAKE THE LOW OVER THE SC LOW
COUNTY...W/ATTENDANT AREA UP UPGLIDE INDUCED PCPN MOST LIKELY
CONFINED TO THE MIDLANDS AND POINTS EAST. GFS IS STILL FASTER...BUT
BOTH MODELS KEEP US OUT OF THE AXIS OF HEAVIEST PCPN. CURRENT PCPN
GRADIENT OVER THE CWA -- LIKELY ERN ZONES TO LOW CHANCE POPS FAR W
-- LOOKS GOOD AND HAVE MADE ONLY MINOR CHANGES IN THE GRIDS TO MATCH
UP W/OTHER OFFICES.

EXTENDED...SURFACE RIDGE OVER AREA SUN WITH FRONT STALLED TO S.
ANOTHER COLD FRONT CROSSES AREA MON...MOVING SLOWLY OFFSHORE BY
TUE...AND STALLING TO S ON WED. MODELS TRY TO HOLD MARGINAL MOISTURE
OVER AREA MUCH OF EXTENDED PERIOD. MAIN CHANGE WAS TO TRY TO
CONSOLIDATE TIMING OF PRECIPITATION EPISODES TO MINIMIZE
FLUCTUATIONS...THOUGH THAT IS WHAT MAY OCCUR IF MODEL MOISTURE AND
FORCING MECHANISMS VERIFY. LITTLE CHANGE TO SKY/WIND/TEMPS.

THANKS TO CHS FOR ORGANIZING THE HYDRO CONFERENCE CALL THIS MORNING.

FCSTID =   14
GSP   67  59  71  57 / 100  70  50  20
AND   65  58  73  56 / 100  70  40  20
CLT   66  60  69  58 / 100  70  60  20
HKY   63  57  67  55 / 100  70  50  30
AVL   66  56  68  53 / 100  70  30  20

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

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

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

MCAVOY/07
Hazardous weather outlook, May 22, 5:16 AM EST, 2 hours 14 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-221200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
616 AM EDT THU MAY 22 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TODAY

WIDESPREAD MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN WILL FALL ACROSS THE WESTERN
CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA TODAY. LOCALIZED FLASH FLOODING IS
POSSIBLE. THE HEAVIEST RAIN IS EXPECTED THROUGH EARLY
AFTERNOON...WITH A DECREASE IN INTENSITY THEREAFTER. HEAVY RAIN MAY
REDEVELOP LATER TONIGHT ALONG AND EAST OF A LINE FROM ANDERSON TO
CHARLOTTE TO STATESVILLE. SEE OUR PRODUCT CAEFFAGSP FOR MORE
INFORMATION.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

AS LOW PRESSURE MOVES UP THE COAST ON FRIDAY...THE BACK EDGE OF AN
AREA OF HEAVY RAIN MAY AFFECT AREAS ALONG AND EAST OF A LINE FROM
CHARLOTTE TO STATESVILLE.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY TODAY FOR THE PURPOSE OF
MONITORING STREAM LEVELS AND REPORTING RAINFALL AMOUNTS.

MCAVOY

Event by event

1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flood, Greater Greenville

When
May 22, 7:30 AM EST to 11:00 PM EST
Where
Greater Greenville forecast zone
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT

Although heavy rain began to taper off during the morning, many of the larger streams across the county began to respond to earlier heavy rainfall during the late morning and afternoon, while flooding persisted along some of the smaller streams. On the east side of Greenville, Gilder, Horsepen, Peters, and other creeks flooded, as did the Enoree River. The Reedy River crested at 11 feet in downtown Greenville during the late afternoon, and this water eventually worked its way downstream to flood southern portions of the county. A few homes were flooded in Berea.

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

More

Every storm in South Carolina in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in South Carolina, May 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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5356737.