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 Columbia, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 25, 9:10 PM EST, 1 hour 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 1010 PM EDT SUN MAY 25 2003 TSTM ACTIVITY WINDING DOWN A BIT LATE THIS EVENING. NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FORMED ON SEVERAL BOUNDARIES TODAY...INCLUDING A FRONTAL BOUNDARY DRAPED ACROSS THE CAROLINAS AS WELL AS A STRONG SEABREEZE FRONT WHICH WORKED ITS WAY FAR INLAND. ANOTHER AREA OF MAINLY LIGHT RAIN CURRENTLY APPROACHING FROM THE WEST ACROSS NORTHERN GA BUT IS DIMINISHING A BIT AS IT MOVES EAST. OTHER CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY HAS WEAKENED THE PAST HOUR OR TWO WITH LOSS OF DAYTIME HEATING. CURRENT THINKING IS TO KEEP CHANCE POPS ACROSS THE CWA FOR THE OVERNIGHT PERIOD. UPPER SHORT WAVE AT THIS TIME ROTATING AROUND GREAT LAKES UPPER LOW AND PUSHING ACROSS OH VALLEY INTO TN VALLEY. WITH THIS FEATURE ALONG WITH SEVERAL OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES ACROSS THE AREA...CANNOT RULE OUT A FEW SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS OVERNIGHT. BUT 30-40 PERCENT POPS LOOK SUFFICIENT. OTHERWISE NO MAJOR CHANGES TO ONGOING FORECAST. FCSTID = 22 CAE 68 85 66 83 / 40 40 20 30 AGS 67 85 65 84 / 40 40 20 30 SSC 68 85 65 83 / 40 40 20 30 OGB 68 87 67 84 / 30 40 20 30 .CAE... GA...NONE. SC...NONE. BC
SCZ015-016-018-020>022-025>031-035>038-041-GAZ040-063>065- 077-251234- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 650 AM EDT SUN MAY 25 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE MIDLANDS OF SOUTH CAROLINA AND THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA OF GEORGIA. .DAY ONE... SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A FEW OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY APPROACH SEVERE LIMITS WITH WIND GUSTS OF 40 TO 60 MPH AND HAIL UP TO 3/4 INCH. OTHERWISE...RIVER FLOODING CONTINUES ON THE FOLLOWING RIVERS: CONGAREE...PEE DEE... BROAD...SALUDA...SAVANNAH AND ENOREE. REFER TO THE LATEST FLOOD STATEMENT (CAEFLSCAE) ISSUED FROM THIS OFFICE AT 614 AM. CURRENT WEATHER CONDITIONS DO NOT FAVOR WIDESPREAD SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. THEREFORE...EMERGENCY MANANGEMENT AND SPOTTER ACTIVATION SHOULD NOT BE REQUIRED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... RIVER FLOODING SHOULD CONTINUE TO SUBSIDE...OTHERWISE NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. TTH
SCZ015-016-252312- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 612 PM EDT SUN MAY 25 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP OVER CHESTERFIELD AND LANCASTER COUNTIES... STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED ACROSS EASTERN LANCASTER AND SOUTHERN CHESTERFIELD COUNTIES. THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE HAIL TO ONE-HALF INCH...WIND GUST TO 50 MPH AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AS THEY MOVE TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. THESE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE PRODUCING DAMAGING HAIL AND WIND THROUGH 730 PM.
SCZ016-028-036-037-041-260022- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 728 PM EDT SUN MAY 25 2003 STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE OUT OF CHESTERFIELD COUNTY BY 830 PM. STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN CALHOUN COUNTY...NEAR SANDY RUN... WILL MOVE IN TO SOUTHERN RICHLAND COUNTY BY 8 PM. STRONG STORMS WILL ALSO CONTINUE TO MOVE ACROSS SOUTHERN BAMBERG COUNTY AND ACROSS EASTERN ORANGEBURG COUNTY...GENERALLY FROM THE CITY OF ORANGEBURG EASTWARD...THROUGH 9 PM. THESE STORMS WILL BE MOVING IN TO THE LAKE MARION AREA BETWEEN 8 AND 9 PM. THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE WIND GUST TO 45 MPH...HAIL TO ONE-HALF INCH... BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING AS THE MOVE TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES PER HOUR.
SCZ015-016-022-029-031-036>038-041-260120- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 820 PM EDT SUN MAY 25 2003 SCATTERED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM CENTRAL CHESTERFIELD COUNTY SOUTHWARD IN TO NORTHERN KERSHAW COUNTY WILL MOVE EASTWARD AT 20 MILES PER HOUR THROUGH 930 PM. THE STORMS WILL MOVE IN TO THE CITIES OF CHESTERFIELD...MCBEE AND BETHUNE. OTHER STRONG STORMS EAST OF A LINE FROM SUMTER COUNTY SOUTHWARD THROUGH ST. MATTHEWS...ORANGEBURG AND OLAR...IN BAMBERG COUNTY... WILL CONTINUE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AS 25 MILES PER HOUR. THE STRONGER STORMS WILL PRODUCE WIND GUSTS TO 40 MILES PER HOUR...HAIL TO ONE-HALF INCH AND VERY HEAVY RAIN AS THEY PASS.
SCZ016-022-031-036-038-041-260203- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 903 PM EDT SUN MAY 25 2003 STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS NORTHERN KERSHAW COUNTY TO NEAR THE CITY OF CHESTERFIELD THROUGH 1030 PM THEN DISSIPATE BY 1 AM. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 10 MILES PER HOUR AND WILL PRODUCE RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING AS THEY PASS. THESE STORMS WILL BE MOVING OVER THE SAME AREA THROUGH 10 PM AND MAY PRODUCE FLOODING OF ROADS AND SMALL STREAMS. STRONG STORMS WILL ALSO CONTINUE EAST OF A LINE FROM BAMBERG TO SANTEE TO SUMTER. THE STORMS ARE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 10 MILES PER HOUR AND WILL PRODUCE RAINFALL AMOUNTS AROUND 1 INCH AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING. THE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DISSIPATE BETWEEN 11 PM AND 1 AM.
SCZ016-260310- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 1010 PM EDT SUN MAY 25 2003 ...HEAVY RAIN OVER EASTERN CHESTERFIELD COUNTY... SEVERAL STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER EASTERN CHESTERFIELD COUNTY NEAR A CHERAW...PATRICK...JEFFERSON LINE WILL PRODUCE RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES ALONG WITH FREQUENT LIGHTNING AS THEY MOVE NORTHEAST AT 10 MILES PER HOUR. THE HEAVY RAINFALL WILL CAUSE BRIEF FLOODING OF ROADS AND SMALL STREAMS. THE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE OUT OF THE COUNTY BY MIDNIGHT.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
SKYWARN spotters reported flash flooding in and around Cheraw. Several roads closed due to water over the highways.
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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5353701.