High winds developed across the mountains, as the remants of Hurricane Ivan moved just west of the area. Locations near the southern exposure of the Blue Ridge were the hardest hit, with major damage occurring in and around Highlands, Cashiers, Brevard, and southern Henderson County.
Every event with a place to put it; 13 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 episode as NWS GSP wrote it up.
High winds developed across the mountains, as the remants of Hurricane Ivan moved just west of the area. Locations near the southern exposure of the Blue Ridge were the hardest hit, with major damage occurring in and around Highlands, Cashiers, Brevard, and southern Henderson County. Thousands of trees were blown down, including 90,000 apple trees in Henderson County. Numerous trees fell on structures and vehicles. A 55-year-old man was killed shortly after midnight near Hendersonville, when a tree fell through his house. Hundreds of structures in Henderson County were damaged by fallen trees and debris. A woman in Highlands was injured when a tree limb hit her in the head.
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 Sep 16, 1:58 PM EST, 3 hours 2 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
258 PM EDT THU SEP 16 2004
.SHORT TERM (TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY)...
MOST OF THIS PACKAGE DETERMINED BY TRACK OF IVAN...WHICH IS NOW MORE
PROGRESSIVE AND EXPECTED TO WEAKEN FASTER THAN YESTERDAY. WIND SHEAR
TO INCREASE AS RAIN BANDS MOVE CLOSER...SUPPORTING TORNADO DEVLOPMENT
INITIALLY IN S. WILL HAVE TO MONITOR NC COUNTIES LATER TONIGHT S
SHEAR MOVES FURTHER N. ALTHOUGH SYSTEM TO WEAKEN FASTER THAN IN
PREVIOUS PACKAGES...WIND GUSTS ALREADY SUBSTANTIAL IN N GA...AND
BELIEVE HIGH WIND WARNING CRITERIA WILL STILL BE MET IN MOUNTAINS
TONIGHT AND FRIDAY...AND WILL CONTINUE WARNING. FOOTHILL WINDS STILL
TO REMAIN JUST BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA.
PROGRESSIVE TRACK WILL MEAN LESS RAINFALL...THOUGH STILL VERY
HEAVY...AND STILL MORE THAN ENOUGH FOR FLOODING...ESPECIALLY IN WAKE
OF FRANCES. WILL LEAVE FLOOD WATCH UP TONIGHT THROUGH SAT.
PRECIPITATION SHOULD TAPER OFF SAT EVENING AS LOW LEVEL FLOW S OF
IVAN BECOMES DOWNSLOPE FROM W...AND WILL LOWER POPS TO CHANCE ALL BUT
TN LINE. WITH REAMINS OF IVAN TRACKING E ACROSS S VA SUN...WILL
CONTINUE HIGHEST POPS TN LINE AND FAR N...WITH LOWEST IN S. DIURNAL
TEMPERATURE RANGE LIMITED BY CLOUDS AND MOISTURE...THOUGH DEW POINTS
TO FALL OFF IN W FLOW LATE.
&&
.LONG TERM (SUNDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY)...
CONSIDERABLE UNCERTAINTY EXISTS IN THE MON THRU THU TIME FRAME. THE
REMNANTS OF IVAN MON AND THE EVENTUAL TRACK OF JEANNE TUE THRU THU
WILL BE THE MAIN PLAYERS IN IN OUR WX. DEEP MOISTURE AND GENERALLY
UPSLOPE FLOW CONTINUE MONDAY. JEANNE BEGINS TO MOVE TOWARD THE AREA
TUE THEN MOVES UP THE SAVANNAH RIVER VALLEY INTO THE NC MTNS THU.
GIVEN THE TROPICAL MOISTURE...LIFT AND UPSLOPE FLOW. HAVE INCLUDED
CHC POP EACH PERIOD. MAX TEMPS GENERALLY LOWER...MIN TEMPS GENERALLY
HIGHER THAN PREVIOUS FCST GIVEN THIS SCENARIO.
&&
.AVIATION...
COPIOUS LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AND ELY TO SELY UPSLOPE FLOW WILL
CONTINUE THRU THE TAF PERIOD AS IVAN APPROACHES FROM THE SOUTHWEST.
CIGS...WHILE GENERALLY MVFR...ARE BOUNCING AROUND BETWEEN MVFR AND
IFR. EXPECT ALL SITES TO BECOME IFR BY EVENING...AND LIFR
OVERNIGHT...AS RAIN SPREADS OVER THE AREA AND ATMOSPHERIC COLUMN
CONTINUES TO MOISTEN. VSBY...ALSO GENERALLY MVFR...IS DROPPING TO
IFR IN RAIN BANDS AND SOMETIMES EVEN VFR AFTER THE BANDS PASS.
EXPECT ALL SITES TO FALL TO MVFR BY EVENING WITH IFR
OVERNIGHT...AGAIN AS RAIN SPREADS OVER THE AREA. WINDS WILL BE ON
THE INCREASE AS WELL. SPEEDS INCREASING TO 15G25...AND EVEN 20G30
CLOSER TO THE CENTER OVERNIGHT. DIRECTION WILL ALSO TREND TO THE SE
OVERNIGHT. THE EXCEPTION IS KAVL WITH SLY FLOW IN THE VALLEY. HAVE
BROUGHT WIND SPEEDS UP THERE AS WELL...BUT AS USUAL...THE HIGHEST
SPEEDS MAY NOT BE REALIZED AT THE TAF SITE IF THE DIRECTION OF THE
GENERAL WIND FLOW IS MORE FROM THE SE.
&&
.GSP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
GA...LAKE WIND ADVISORY FOR ZONES GAZ010-017 UNTIL 6 PM EDT.
...TORNADO WATCH FOR ZONES GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029 UNTIL 9 PM
EDT.
...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR ZONES GAZ010-017 THROUGH FRIDAY.
...FLOOD WATCH FOR ZONES GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029 TONIGHT THROUGH
SATURDAY NIGHT.
...LAKE WIND ADVISORY FOR ZONES GAZ017-018-026-028-029 THROUGH
TONIGHT.
NC...LAKE WIND ADVISORY FOR ZONES NCZ048-051>053-058-059-
062>065 UNTIL 6 PM EDT.
...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR ZONES NCZ033-048>053-058-059-
062>065 THROUGH FRIDAY.
...FLOOD WATCH FOR ZONES NCZ033>035-037-038-048>059-062>072-
082 TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY NIGHT.
...LAKE WIND ADVISORY FOR ZONES NCZ034-035-037-038-054>057-
065>072-082 THROUGH TONIGHT.
SC...LAKE WIND ADVISORY FOR ZONES SCZ001-002 UNTIL 6 PM EDT.
...TORNADO WATCH FOR ZONES SCZ001>014-019 UNTIL 9 PM EDT.
...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR ZONES SCZ001>003 THROUGH FRIDAY.
...FLOOD WATCH FOR ZONES SCZ001>014-019 TONIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY
NIGHT.
...LAKE WIND ADVISORY FOR ZONES SCZ001>014-019 THROUGH TONIGHT.
&&
SHORT TERM...JAT
LONG TERM/AVIATION...RWHHAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 615 AM EDT THU SEP 16 2004 GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014- 019-171015- 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- 615 AM EDT THU SEP 16 2004 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA... UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAY ONE... INCREASINGLY WINDY AND RAINY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TODAY AS HURRICANE IVAN MOVES NORTH THROUGH ALABAMA. THE THREAT FOR EXCESSIVE RAINFALL...STRONG WIND GUSTS AND EVEN TORNADOES WILL BE INCREASING TONIGHT. HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE MOUNTAINS WHILE A FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF THE REGION. PLEASE REFER TO THE FOLLOWING PRODUCTS ISSUED BY THIS OFFICE FOR FURTHER DETAILS... FLOOD WATCH...FFAGSP. HIGH WIND WARNING...NPWGSP. SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...SPSGSP. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THE REMNANTS OF HURRICANE IVAN WILL CONTINUE TO EFFECT THE REGION INTO FRIDAY AND POSSIBLY INTO A PORTION OF THE WEEKEND. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS POSSIBLE.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
408 PM EDT THU SEP 16 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0350 PM TORNADO ROYSTON 34.29N 83.11W
09/16/2004 FRANKLIN GA COUNTY OFFICIAL
NUMEROUS TREES DOWN IN ROYSTON AND FRANKLIN SPRINGS. TREE
ON CAR. DAMAGE AT EMS STATION IN FRANKLIN SPRINGS.
INJURIES...BUT NUMBER UNKNOWN.
&&
MOOREPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
539 PM EDT THU SEP 16 2004
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION...ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0512 PM TORNADO 13 SE LAURENS 34.37N 81.86W
09/16/2004 LAURENS SC COUNTY OFFICIAL
COUNTY COMMS CENTER REPORTED A TORNADO ON OLD MINTON ROAD
WHICH BROUGHT DOWN SOME TREES.
&&
DEOThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
13 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Wind, Henderson | 2004-09-17 | 55 | Male | Permanent Home | Direct |
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, September 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: 5423499, 5423500, 5423501, 5423502, 5423503, 5423504, 5423505, 5423506, 5423507, 5423508, 5423509, 5423510, 5423511.