Strong winds developed above the surface during the evening hours across the southwest mountains. Showers and weak thunderstorms moving across the region brought some of the stronger winds to the surface, causing some trees and power lines to fall.
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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 episode as NWS GSP wrote it up.
Strong winds developed above the surface during the evening hours across the southwest mountains. Showers and weak thunderstorms moving across the region brought some of the stronger winds to the surface, causing some trees and power lines to fall. Some power outages occurred.
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 5, 9:20 PM EST, 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 920 PM EST FRI MAR 5 2004 .DISCUSSION... HAVE NOT UNCOVERED MUCH IN LOOKING AT THIS EVENING/S DATA TO DEVIATE FROM GOING THINKING FOR THE OVERNIGHT PERIOD. PCPN TIMING LOOKS TO BE ON TRACK AS REGIONAL 88D LOOPS INDICATE SCATTERED SHOWERS ATTM ACRS THE SW MTNS AS THE DEEP RH EDGES EASTWARD AND LLVL SW FLOW CONTINUES TO INCREASE. AS A RESULT...EXPECT A CONTINUED EXPANSION OF SHOWERS...MAINLY ACRS THE NC MTNS FOR THE REST OF THE EVENING ...STILL LEADING TOWARD A CATEGORICAL CVRG OF PCPN AFTER 06Z. A BIT DIFFICULT TO GET A FEEL FOR OBSERVED MAGNITUDE OF UPSTREAM 850 MB JET THIS EVENING WITH SOME CONTAMINATION AT KOHX AND MISSING WIND DATA AT KBMX...BUT NO REASON TO DEVIATE FROM EARLIER PROGS OF A 50-60 KT JET TRANSLATING EASTWARD. IN ADDITION...CERTAINLY NOT MORE UNSTABLE UPSTREAM THAN WHAT WAS PROGGED EARLIER AND CONVERSELY...FEEL THE THREAT FOR AN ENVIRONMENT ANYTHING MORE THAN MARGINALLY UNSTABLE WILL BE SEEN TONIGHT IN THE WEST. SO...ESSENTIALLY WILL CONTINUE THE THREAT FOR MODERATE...MAYBE OCCASIONAL HEAVY RAIN AND EMBEDDED TSTM CHANCE...IN THE SW MTNS AND TENN BORDER COUNTIES OVERNIGHT WITH THE SMALL CHANCE FOR SOME STRONG...MOSTLY GRADIENT WIND FOR THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS. STILL LOOKING LIKE A PRETTY QUICK DROP OFF IN POP/QPF EAST OF THE IMMEDIATE FOOTHILLS OVERNIGHT AS DESPITE PWATS ABOVE 170 PERCENT OF NORMAL...FAIRLY WEAKLY FORCED ENVIRONMENT WILL BE FIGHTING PRETTY DECENT LOOKING CAP FROM 700-650 MB ON KFFC SNDG THIS EVENING. A FAST TAPER TO TOKEN SMALL POPS FOR SHOWERS AND PROBABLY JUST A FEW HUNDREDTHS QPF FOR THE PIEDMONT FOR THE LATE NIGHT HOURS. && .GSP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. && 55
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 525 AM EST FRI MAR 5 2004 GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-051225- ABBEVILLE SC-ALEXANDER NC-ANDERSON SC-AVERY NC-BUNCOMBE NC-BURKE NC- CABARRUS NC-CALDWELL NC-CATAWBA NC-CHEROKEE SC-CHESTER SC- CLEVELAND NC-DAVIE NC-ELBERT GA-FRANKLIN GA-GASTON NC-GRAHAM NC- GREATER GREENVILLE SC-GREATER OCONEE SC-GREATER PICKENS SC- GREENVILLE MOUNTAINS SC-GREENWOOD SC-HABERSHAM GA-HART GA-HAYWOOD NC- HENDERSON NC-IREDELL NC-LAURENS SC-LINCOLN NC-MACON NC-MADISON NC- MCDOWELL NC-MECKLENBURG NC-MITCHELL NC-NORTHERN JACKSON NC- OCONEE MOUNTAINS SC-PICKENS MOUNTAINS SC-POLK NC-RABUN GA-ROWAN NC- RUTHERFORD NC-SOUTHERN JACKSON NC-SPARTANBURG SC-STEPHENS GA- SWAIN NC-TRANSYLVANIA NC-UNION SC-UNION NC-YANCEY NC-YORK SC- 525 AM EST FRI MAR 5 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA... UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAY ONE... SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL APPROACH THIS AFTERNOON. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS THE WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA TONIGHT AND FRIDAY. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO ACCOMPANY THE PASSAGE OF THE FRONT. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE...ESPECIALLY OVER THE NORTH CAROLINAS MOUNTAINS TONIGHT. RAIN WILL PUSH EAST OF THE AREA BY SATURDAY AFTERNOON...POSSIBLY RESULTING IN AN INCH OR TWO OF RAIN OVER THE MOUNTAINS. IN ADDITION...WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO PICK UP SATURDAY...WINDY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP BY THE AFTERNOON WITH SOME STRONG WIND GUSTS POSSIBLE. PLEASE SEE THE SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK (CAESPSGSP) FOR ADDITION DETAILS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED. NED
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, March 2004
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: 5388925, 5389001.