Flash Flood, McDowell
- When
- July 18, 4:50 PM EST to 6:00 PM EST
- Where
- McDowell County, 11 mi NNW of Marion
- Reported by
- TRAINED SPOTTER
- Coordinates
- 35.833, -82.100
Cox Creek was reported to be out of its banks just south of Little Switzerland.
Flash Flood in North Carolina, July 18, 2005
1 flash flood, 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
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 Greenville-Spartanburg, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 18, 1:10 PM EST, 3 hours 40 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 18, 1:10 PM EST, 3 hours 40 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 210 PM EDT MON JUL 18 2005 .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY)... HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE SOUTHEAST CONTINUES TO KEEP TEMPERATURES ON THE WARM SIDE THROUGH TOMORROW. WITH DEWPOINTS IN THE 60S TO MID 70S AND NO CAPPING INVERSION...THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY SHOULD BE SCATTERED OVER THE ENTIRE CWA THROUGH THIS EVENING. THE ONLY REAL TRIGGER IS A ZONE OF MOISTURE CONVERGENCE THAT HAS FADED DURING THE MORNING. STILL THE FOCUS OF PRECIP SHOULD BE NEAR THAT ZONE IN THE NORTHEAST PART OF CWA. MORNING FOG IS EXPECTED IN CLIMATOLOGICALLY PRONE AREAS. MORNING MINS RAISED SLIGHTLY ESPECIALLY IN THE CHARLOTTE AREA BECAUSE OF HIGHER DEWPOINTS. PRETTY MUCH A PERSISTENCE FORECAST TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY AS THE EAST-WEST ORIENTED UPPER ANTICYCLONE AXIS LINGERS JUST OFF TO OUR SOUTH...CONTINUING TO PLACE THE CWFA WITHIN THE EXTREME SOUTHERN FRINGE OF THE WESTERLIES. SO...A COUPLE MORE DAYS OF A MODERATELY UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE WITHIN A WEAKLY SHEARED WESTERLY FLOW AND DEVELOPING LEE TROUGHING...LEADING TO THE ONGOING THREAT OF MAINLY AFTERNOON/EVENING SCATTERED DEEP CONVECTION. 12 UTC NAM CREEPS LLVL THICKNESS VALUES UP EACH DAY...BUT GOING FCST OF DAILY LOWER 90S ACRS THE FTHLS/PIEDMONT LOOKS TO BE ON TRACK. && .LONG TERM (WEDNESDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY)... PATTERN WILL TAKE ON A MORE NORTHWESTERLY COMPONENT THURSDAY AND FRIDAY WITH UPPER HEIGHTS FALLING ALL ACRS THE EASTERN U.S. DIFFICULT AT THIS JUNCTURE TO TIME RIPPLES OF ENERGY ROTATING INTO THE REGION...BUT WILL CONTINUE WITH AFTERNOON CHANCES THURSDAY AND KEEP POPS GOING INTO THE NIGHTTIME HOURS TO ACCOUNT FOR ANY NOCTURNAL ACTIVITY. BEST TO CONTINUE WITH LINGERING CHANCE POPS INTO FRIDAY EVENING UNTIL HOPEFULLY SOME DRIER AIR WORKS IN FROM THE NORTH FOR THE WEEKEND...AND WILL NOT STRAY FROM GOING SILENT 20 POP SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. && .AVIATION... LACK OF A SYNOPTIC LEVEL TRIGGER WILL PREVENT MAJOR CONVECTION OUTBREAK TODAY. BUT WITH CAPES IN THE ONE TO TWO THOUSAND RANGE AND MAX TEMPS IN THE 90S. EXPECT SOME THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT THIS AFTN AND EVE. MOISTURE CONVERGENCE HAS DIMINISHED A LITTLE THIS MORNING WITH PREFERABLE AREA IN THE NORTHEAST PART OF OUR COUNTY WARNING AREA. HKY IS MOST LIKELY TO SEE ENHANCED CONVECTION. LIGHT WIND FIELD WILL MEAN THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE VERY SLOWLY REDUCING POPS AT ANY PARTICULAR POINT. MORNING FOG WILL DEPEND ON PRECIP THIS EVENING. GOING WITH MAV MOS WITH MVFR VSBYS AT AVL AND MAYBE ANDERSON AND HKY. && .GSP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. && SHORT TERM...VAD/CSH LONG TERM...CSH AVIATION...VAD
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 18, 5:29 AM EST, 11 hours 21 minutes before
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 629 AM EDT MON JUL 18 2005 GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082- SCZ001>014-019-191030- RABUN-HABERSHAM-STEPHENS-FRANKLIN-HART-ELBERT-AVERY-CALDWELL- ALEXANDER-IREDELL-DAVIE-MADISON-YANCEY-MITCHELL-SWAIN-HAYWOOD- BUNCOMBE-MCDOWELL-BURKE-CATAWBA-ROWAN-GRAHAM-NORTHERN JACKSON- MACON-SOUTHERN JACKSON-TRANSYLVANIA-HENDERSON-POLK-RUTHERFORD- CLEVELAND-LINCOLN-GASTON-MECKLENBURG-CABARRUS-UNION NC- OCONEE MOUNTAINS-PICKENS MOUNTAINS-GREENVILLE MOUNTAINS- GREATER OCONEE-GREATER PICKENS-GREATER GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG- CHEROKEE-YORK-ANDERSON-ABBEVILLE-LAURENS-UNION SC-CHESTER- GREENWOOD- 629 AM EDT MON JUL 18 2005 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA... MUCH OF WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA... AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT PATCHY DENSE FOG...REDUCING VISIBILITY TO 1/4 MILE OR LESS...WILL AFFECT THE REGION THIS MORNING. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON. THERE WILL BE A THREAT OF ISOLATED SEVERE WEATHER TODAY...MAINLY IN THE FORM OF DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY SCATTERED...MAINLY AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS...AND AN ATTENDANT THREAT OF ISOLATED SEVERE WEATHER...WILL CONTINUE ACROSS THE AREA THROUGH MUCH OF THE WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED. LANE
The radar
The Greer radar (KGSP), 106 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:48 UTC.
Event by event
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
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
- Heat in Pennsylvania, July 18 to 19, 2005
- Heat in New Jersey, July 18 to 19, 2005
- Heat in Virginia, July 18, 2005
- Flash Flooding in Massachusetts, July 18, 2005
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Michigan, July 18, 2005
- Lightning Strike in Indiana, July 18, 2005
- Damaging Winds in Arizona, July 18, 2005
- Damaging Wind in Indiana, July 18, 2005
- Damaging Winds in Michigan, July 18, 2005
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Oklahoma, July 18, 2005
- Lightning Strike in Mississippi, July 18, 2005
- Damaging Wind in Tennessee, July 18, 2005
More
Every storm in North Carolina in 2005Every state in 2005This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, July 2005
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: 5469839.