North Carolina, 2004

Damaging Wind in North Carolina, May 31, 2004

May 31, 2004 · NWS GSP · 1 event in 1 county or zone

1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. 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
$1,000
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 31, 1:43 AM EST, 2 hours 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 31, 1:43 AM EST, 2 hours 47 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
243 AM EDT MON MAY 31 2004

.SHORT TERM...
CONVECTIVE LINE STRETCHES FROM JUST EAST OF OHX TO NEAR JKL THIS
MORNING WITH TORNADO WATCH CURRENTLY IN PLACE ACROSS THE WESTERN
CWFA. SHEAR PROFILES STEADILY INCREASE THIS MORNING WITH 850 MB
WINDS PROGGED TO REACH 50 KT TOWARD 12Z AS FLOW GOES MORE
UNIDIRECTIONAL. SLIGHT TIMING DIFFS CONT TO EXIST WITH MCS MOVING
THROUGH REGION THIS MORNING...WITH THE GFS FEATURING FASTER TIMING.
ETA FIELDS HAVE INITIALIZED FAIRLY WELL THIS MORNING...HOWEVER...AND
SLIGHTLY SLOWER TIMING MEANS EASTERN PIEDMONT SECTIONS COULD
REALIZE IMPROVED INSTABILITY BEFORE SURFACE COLD POOL MOVES THROUGH
TODAY. WILL FEATURE HIGHEST POPS WEST EARLY TO LOWEST EAST AND THEN
REVERSE THE PATTERN FOR THIS AFTERNOON.

FAIRLY DEEP DRYING SHOULD THEN SET IN ACROSS THE WRN CAROLINAS AND
NORTHEAST GEORGIA AS AREA IS CAUGHT BETWEEN DEEP ROTATING VORTEX
ACROSS THE NRN CONUS AND MOIST BOUNDARY SOUTH OF THE REGION THROUGH
TUE. MOISTURE WILL THEN STEADILY RECOVER THROUGH WED WITH ETA
FEATURING NEXT SHOT OF UPPER DYNAMICS ROTATING IN FROM GREAT LAKES
LOW BY LATE IN THE DAY.

.LONG TERM...
PATTERN REMAINS UNSETTLED THROUGH THE REST OF THE WEEK AS ERN TROUGH
DEEPENS THROUGH FRI. NO CHANGES ARE ANTICIPATED TO THE REMAINDER OF
THE MEDIUM RANGE AT THIS TIME.
&&

.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
GSP  83  62  86  63 /  60  20  10  10
AND  84  62  86  64 /  60  20  10  10
CLT  86  62  87  64 /  50  20  10  10
HKY  83  59  84  61 /  60  20  10  10
AVL  78  57  81  57 /  70  20  20  10
&&

.GSP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
GA...NONE.
NC...NONE.
SC...NONE.
&&

HG

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 31, 2:30 AM EST, 2 hours before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
330 AM EDT MON MAY 31 2004

..TIME...   ...EVENT...     ...CITY LOCATION...      ...LAT.LON...
..DATE...   ....MAG....     ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
            ..REMARKS..

0310 AM     TSTM WND DMG     5 N WAYNESVILLE         35.56N 83.00W
05/31/2004                   HAYWOOD            NC   TRAINED SPOTTER

            SPOTTER REPORTS SEVERAL TREES SNAPPED AND POWER OUTAGES
            DUE TO ESTIMATED 60 TO 70 MPH WIND GUST.

&&

HG
Special weather statement, May 31, 3:01 AM EST, 1 hour 29 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
401 AM EDT MON MAY 31 2004

GAZ010-017-NCZ033-048>053-058-059-062>065-SCZ001>003-310958-
AVERY NC-BUNCOMBE NC-GRAHAM NC-GREENVILLE MOUNTAINS SC-HABERSHAM GA-
HAYWOOD NC-HENDERSON NC-MACON NC-MADISON NC-MITCHELL NC-
NORTHERN JACKSON NC-OCONEE MOUNTAINS SC-PICKENS MOUNTAINS SC-
RABUN GA-SOUTHERN JACKSON NC-SWAIN NC-TRANSYLVANIA NC-YANCEY NC-
401 AM EDT MON MAY 31 2004

...STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AFFECTING THE MOUNTAINS OF THE
WESTERN CAROLINAS AND NORTHEAST GEORGIA...

AT 401 AM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
CLUSTER OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH INTO THE SOUTHERN
APPALACHIANS. ANY OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE AT ANY
MOMENT...AND A FEW COULD BECOME TORNADIC. MOST AFFECTED THROUGH 6 AM
WILL BE LOCATIONS SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 40...ESPECIALLY FROM THE
SMOKIES TO FRANKLIN TO CLAYTON. WINDS OF 40 TO 50 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED
WITH NEARLY ANY THUNDERSTORM.

HG

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 98 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 09:32 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.

Thunderstorm Wind, Yancey

When
May 31, 4:30 AM EST
Where
Yancey County, Busick
Measured
50 kt (58 mph) estimated gust
Property damage
$1,000
Reported by
LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates
35.767, -82.183

Some trees and power lines were blown down.

What these are

Thunderstorm Wind
Winds from a thunderstorm of 50 knots (58 mph) or more, or lower winds that caused damage or casualties. Measured gusts are marked MG, estimated EG.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

More

Every storm in North Carolina in 2004Every state in 2004This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, May 2004

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: 5403281.