South Carolina, 2003

Flash Flood in South Carolina, May 6, 2003

May 6, 2003 · NWS CAE · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.

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 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 Columbia, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 5, 6:57 PM EST, 6 hours 43 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 5, 6:57 PM EST, 6 hours 43 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, May 5, 4:24 AM EST, 21 hours 16 minutes before
GAZ040-063>065-077-SCZ015-016-018-020>022-025>031-035>038-041-051115-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC
524 AM EDT MON MAY 5 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE MIDLANDS OF SOUTH CAROLINA
AND THE CENTRAL SAVANNAH RIVER AREA.

.DAY ONE...
AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE LATER TODAY.
LARGE HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 65 MPH ARE POSSIBLE. THESE STORMS COULD
PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME AND FLASH
FLOODING MAY BE A CONCERN IN LOW LYING AND FLOOD PRONE AREAS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED FOR TUESDAY AS AN UNSTABLE
AND MOIST AIRMASS WILL REMAIN OVER THE AREA. AFTERNOON AND EVENING
THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE. SOME OF THESE STORMS MAY BECOME
SEVERE.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.

JDB

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 6, 12:39 AM EST, 1 hour 1 minute before
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Local storm report, May 6, 1:25 AM EST, 15 minutes before
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The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 81 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 06:39 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Edgefield

When
May 6, 1:40 AM EST to 3:40 AM EST
Where
Edgefield County, Edgefield
Reported by
EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates
33.772, -81.967 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Emergency manager reported 2-4 inchs of rain flooded and closed some country roads with a couple of small streams running over the bridges.

What these are

Flash Flood
Flooding that begins within six hours of the rain that causes it, or of a dam or levee failure or ice jam release, often with deadly speed.

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5353700.