1 lightning, 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 Greenville-Spartanburg, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 8, 8:18 PM EST, 2 hours 12 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 918 PM EDT SAT MAY 8 2004 .UPDATE... WL INCREASE THE POPS TO LIKELY ACROSS THE WRN NC FOOTHILLS INTO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS AND INCREASE THE POPS ACROSS THE REST OF THE ESCARPMENT AS WELL. CURRENTLY CONVECTION IS CONTINUING ACROSS THE NRN NC FOOTHILLS AS WELL PARTS OF THE SRN MTNS. SOME INDICATION FROM THE 88D RETURNS IN THE STRATIFORM RAIN OVER THE SRN MTNS THAT AN MCV HAS FORMED. THIS WILL ENHANCE LIFT OVER THE WRN FOOTHILLS AS IT DRIFTS TO THE NE. THE ETA AND RUC BOTH INCREASE CONVECTIVE COVERAGE ACROSS THE ESCARPMENT FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. THEY BOTH HAVE INCREASING LLVL UPSLOPE FLOW AND GOOD OMEGA. THAT/S WHY I/M RAISING POPS. SINCE THE LLVL FLOW IS ACTUALLY STRONGER THAN THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW...THINK CELLS WL REMAIN LOCKED IN PRETTY CLOSE TO THE LEE OF THE MTNS. CELLS TDA HAVE ALREADY EXHIBITED A TENDENCY TO STAND IN ONE PLACE WITH SOME ISOLATED FLASH FLOODING EARLIER IN THE MTNS... AND WOULDN/T BE SURPRISED TO SEE SOME FLASH FLOODING PROBLEMS DEVELOP IN THE FOOTHILLS. NOT QUITE CERTAIN ENUF TO ISSUE AN FFA... AT LEAST NOT YET. && .GSP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. && MCAVOY
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 552 AM EDT SAT MAY 8 2004 GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-081200- 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- 552 AM EDT SAT MAY 8 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA... UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAY ONE... SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ALONG A COLD FRONT. A FEW OF THE THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WIND GUSTS...MAINLY OVER THE NORTH CAROLINA FOOTHILLS AND PIEDMONT. FOR MORE INFORMATION...SEE THE SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT ISSUED AT 358 AM. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED ACROSS PARTS OF NORTH CAROLINA LATE TODAY. MOORE
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
541 PM EDT SAT MAY 08 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0537 PM HAIL CANTON 35.55N 82.84W
05/08/2004 1.00 INCH HAYWOOD NC PUBLIC
PUBLIC REPORT VIA CELL PHONE OF LOTS OF PENNY TO QUARTER
SIZE HAIL BEATING UP CARS. ALSO LOCAL FLOODING OF ROADS
AND TERRIBLE LIGHTNING.
&&
JONESPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
700 PM EDT SAT MAY 08 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0520 PM HAIL TUCKASEGEE 35.27N 83.12W
05/08/2004 1.75 INCH JACKSON NC PUBLIC
PUBLIC REPORTED THROUGH 911
&&
JONESPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
754 PM EDT SAT MAY 08 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0730 PM FLASH FLOOD 3 SE CULLOWHEE 35.28N 83.14W
05/08/2004 JACKSON NC COUNTY OFFICIAL
CULLOWHEE CREEK IS OUT OF ITS BANKS. CULLOWHEE MOUNTAIN
ROAD IS CLOSED DUE TO HIGH WATER. WATER AND MUD HAS ALSO
BEEN REPORTED TO HAVE COVERED ROADS IN THE TUCKASEGEE
AERA.
&&
MCAVOYThe Greer radar (KGSP), 64 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 03:29 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning ignited several fires and downed some power lines.
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, May 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: 5403174.