A band of heavy rain developed over the western North Carolina piedmont during the morning hours of the 23rd. Rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches fell over a period of about two hours, causing a few areas of flash flooding on the east side of Charlotte.
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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.
A band of heavy rain developed over the western North Carolina piedmont during the morning hours of the 23rd. Rainfall amounts of 2 to 4 inches fell over a period of about two hours, causing a few areas of flash flooding on the east side of Charlotte.
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 23, 6:08 AM EST, 2 hours 37 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 708 AM EDT FRI SEP 23 2011 .SYNOPSIS... A COLD FRONT WILL GRADUALLY PUSH EAST ACROSS THE REGION TODAY...REACHING THE MIDLANDS TONIGHT. A DEEP UPPER LOW WILL REMAIN OVER THE OHIO VALLEY TO GREAT LAKES AREA THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK...BEFORE MOVING NORTHEAST. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... THE BACK EDGE OF THE MORE SOLID PRECIP SHIELD IS STARTING TO SHOW UP IN NE GA AHEAD OF THE SLOWLY APPROACHING FRONT AND UPPER TROUGH. THE UPSLOPE FLOW...WARM ADVECTION LIFT...AND DPVA WITH THE BEST IMPULSES WILL TAPER OFF THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS. WILL THUS BE ABLE TO ADVERTISE A SLOW BUT STEADY TAPERING TREND TO THE POPS FROM THE SW TODAY. THE COMBINATION OF CLOUDS AND PRECIP SHOULD KEEP SFC BASED INSTABILITY A BIT LIMITED THROUGH THE PERIOD...BUT ANY BREAKS COULD ALLOW TSTM DEVELOPING. IT STILL APPEARS THAT THE BEST LOW LEVEL EQUIVALENT POTENTIAL TEMPERATURE AXIS SHOULD SET UP JUST EAST OF THE AREA...ALONG WITH THE STRONGEST BL CONVERGENCE AND UPPER DIVERGENCE. WILL CONTINUE A BLEND OF MOS TEMPS THIS AFTN WITH QUITE A BIT OF DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE COOLER MET AND WARMER MAV. TONIGHT....THE BOUNDARY WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE SLOWLY E AS IT BECOMES MORE PARALLEL TO THE UPPER LEVEL FLOW. MID LEVEL DRYING WILL LIKELY WORK INTO THE AREA OVER THE TOP OF A VERY MOIST BOUNDARY LAYER THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING HOURS SAT. THIS SHOULD ALLOW POPS TO STEADILY DIMINISH FROM THE SW TONIGHT. THIS COULD ALSO PROVIDE A GOOD SETUP FOR DENSE FOG IN SW SECTIONS TOWARD DAYBREAK SAT. A MOS BLEND ON TEMPS LOOKS REASONABLE. && .SHORT TERM /SATURDAY/... AT 3 AM ON FRIDAY...AFTER SUNRISE SATURDAY...MODEL GUIDANCE INDICATES THAT THE SFC COLD FRONT WILL REMAIN EAST OF THE FORECAST AREA. A CLOSED LOW WILL REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY OVER THE HEARTLAND...ROTATING DRY AIR NORTHEAST ACROSS THE SOUTHERN APPALACHIAN REGION DURING THE DAY. I WILL FORECAST AND STEADY DECREASE IN SKY COVER AND POP THROUGH THE DAY. HIGH TEMPERATURES SHOULD VERIFY A FEW DEGREES BELOW NORMAL ACROSS THE MTNS TO NEAR NORMAL EAST. DRY CONDITIONS SHOULD REMAIN SATURDAY NIGHT...WITH A SLIGHT INCREASE IN POPS ACROSS THE MTNS BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON AS A LOBE OF MOISTURE APPROACHES FROM THE WEST. TEMPERATURES ARE FORECAST TO REMAIN 4 TO 6 DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL ON SUNDAY. && .LONG TERM /SATURDAY NIGHT THROUGH THURSDAY/... AT 305 AM ON FRIDAY...THE H5 CLOSED LOW IS EXPECTED TO DRIFT NORTHEAST OVER THE GREAT LAKES REGION DURING THE DAY ON MONDAY. AT THE SFC...A COLD FRONT WILL SWEEP EAST DURING THE DAY...EXPECTED TO REACH THE NC/TN LINE DURING THE EVENING AND EAST OF THE MTN MONDAY NIGHT. I WILL INDICATE 30 TO 40 POPS ACROSS THE MTNS FOR SHRA/TSRA DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING...AND 20 TO 30 POPS EAST FOR MAINLY SHRA. TEMPERATURES SHOULD AGAIN FAVOR VALUES SEVERAL DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL GIVEN THE FROPA TIMING. TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY...LARGE HIGH PRESSURE WILL GRADUALLY BUILD OVER THE REGION FROM THE WEST...PAIRED WITH DRY NW FLOW IN THE MID LEVELS. THIS PATTERN WILL SUPPORT A DRY FORECAST WITH TEMPERATURES RANGING VERY CLOSE TO SEASONABLE VALUES. && .AVIATION /11Z FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY/... AT KCLT...THE WIDESPREAD RAIN SHIELD SHOULD IMPACT KCLT THROUGH THE MORNING HOURS. COVERAGE MAY THEN DWINDLE FROM THE SW THROUGH THE AFTERNOON HOURS AS THE UPPER SUPPORT SLIPS E OF THE AREA. WILL FEATURE TEMPO IFR FOR A COUPLE OF HOURS THIS MORNING...WITH A STEADILY IMPROVING TREND THROUGH MVFR FOR THE AFTN...WITH VFR BY LATE DAY. THE MOST UNSTABLE AIR SHOULD LINE UP EAST OF THE TERMINAL...BUT A CB MENTION WILL BE REQUIRED THIS AFTN. LOWER CLOUDS WILL FILL BACK IN OVERNIGHT AS DRY AIR MOVES IN ALOFT. SFC WINDS WILL BE LIGHT THROUGH THE PERIOD...BUT WITH A TREND TOWARD SRLY EARLY...SW THIS AFTERNOON...AND THEN POSSIBLY WESTERLY TONIGHT. ELSEWHERE...PRECIPITATION SHOULD BEGIN TO TAPER OFF IN COVERAGE FROM THE SOUTHWEST FROM LATE MORNING THROUGH EARLY AFTERNOON AS THE UPPER SUPPORT MOVES BY. WILL NEED TEMPO IFR AT TIMES IN THE HEAVIER SHOWERS THIS MORNING...IMPROVING TO MVFR...WITH VFR LIKELY MID TO LATE AFTN. WILL ONLY NEED TO CARRY A CB GROUP SINCE INSTABILITY SHOULD BE LIMITED BY THE CLOUDS AND PRECIPITATION. THE MID LEVEL DRY SLOT ARRIVING FROM THE SW OVERNIGHT COULD LEAD TO DENSE FOG AND LOW CLOUD DEVELOP DURING THE OUTLOOK PERIOD OF THE TAF. LIGHT SRLY FLOW WILL BECOME LIGHT SW THIS AFTERNOON...WITH A POSSIBLE SHIFT TO WESTERLY TONIGHT AS A WEAK FRONT MOVES INTO THE REGION. OUTLOOK...AN UPPER LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM PARKED WEST OF THE MOUNTAINS WILL KEEP THE REGION IN MOIST SW FLOW WITH OCNL SHORTWAVES MOVING THROUGH THE AREA DURING THE OUTLOOK PERIOD. PERIODS OF LOW CLOUDS AND VSBY WILL BE POSSIBLE AS THE BL STAYS MOIST WHILE MID LEVELS DRY OUT AT TIMES. BETTER DRYING IS EXPECTED WITH A COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE TUE. AN EXPERIMENTAL AVIATION FORECAST CONSISTENCY TABLE SHOWING THE PERCENTAGE OF GUIDANCE MEMBERS AGREEING WITH THE SCHEDULED ISSUANCE CATEGORY IS AVAILABLE AT FOLLOWING LINK (USE LOWER CASE)... WWW.WEATHER.GOV/GSP/AVIATION/TABLES.HTM && .GSP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... GA...NONE. NC...NONE. SC...NONE. && SYNOPSIS...NED/PAT NEAR TERM...HG SHORT TERM...NED LONG TERM...NED AVIATION...HG
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 514 AM EDT FRI SEP 23 2011 GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033-035>037-048>053-056>059-062>065- 068>072-082-501>510-SCZ001>014-019-240915- RABUN-HABERSHAM-STEPHENS-FRANKLIN-HART-ELBERT-AVERY-ALEXANDER- IREDELL-DAVIE-MADISON-YANCEY-MITCHELL-SWAIN-HAYWOOD-BUNCOMBE-CATAWBA- ROWAN-GRAHAM-NORTHERN JACKSON-MACON-SOUTHERN JACKSON-TRANSYLVANIA- HENDERSON-CLEVELAND-LINCOLN-GASTON-MECKLENBURG-CABARRUS-UNION NC- CALDWELL MOUNTAINS-GREATER CALDWELL-BURKE MOUNTAINS-GREATER BURKE- MCDOWELL MOUNTAINS-EASTERN MCDOWELL-RUTHERFORD MOUNTAINS- GREATER RUTHERFORD-POLK MOUNTAINS-EASTERN POLK-OCONEE MOUNTAINS- PICKENS MOUNTAINS-GREENVILLE MOUNTAINS-GREATER OCONEE- GREATER PICKENS-GREATER GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG-CHEROKEE-YORK- ANDERSON-ABBEVILLE-LAURENS-UNION SC-CHESTER-GREENWOOD- 514 AM EDT FRI SEP 23 2011 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST GEORGIA...PIEDMONT NORTH CAROLINA...WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. WIDESPREAD MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN WILL REMAIN ACROSS NORTHEAST GEORGIA AND THE WESTERN CAROLINAS THIS MORNING. THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE EASTERN AND SOUTHERN SLOPES OF THE MOUNTAINS AND EAST TO INTERSTATE 85. THE COVERAGE OF RAIN WILL GRADUALLY DECREASE FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH THIS EVENING. HOWEVER...A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE PIEDMONT. THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLY TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... NONE. NED
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
639 AM EDT FRI SEP 23 2011
SCZ011-231200-
ABBEVILLE-
639 AM EDT FRI SEP 23 2011
...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT EASTERN ABBEVILLE COUNTY THROUGH
800 AM EDT...
AT 635 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED AN
AREA OF MODERATE TO HEAVY RAIN ACROSS EASTERN ABBEVILLE COUNTY.
SINCE 4 AM...RADAR RAINFALL ESTIMATES INDICATE THAT TWO TO THREE
INCHES OF RAIN HAS FALLEN ACROSS THE AREA. HOURLY RAINFALL RATES MAY
RANGE BETWEEN A HALF INCH TO AN INCH THROUGH 8 AM.
* DEEP STANDING WATER IS POSSIBLE ON AIRPORT AND SCOTTS ROADS. BLUE
HILL AND PARKER CREEKS IN THE CAROLINA CIRCLE AREA MAY EXPERIENCE
RAPIDLY RISING WATER LEVELS EARLY THIS MORNING. DEEP PONDING OF
WATER IS EXPECTED ALONG ST RD S-33 MAIN AND CEDAR SPRINGS STREETS AT
BLUE HILL CREEK.
HEAVY RAINS MAY FLOOD LOW LYING AREAS SUCH AS DITCHES AND
UNDERPASSES. AVOID THESE AREAS AND DO NOT CROSS FLOODED ROADS. WATER
LEVELS OF SMALL STREAMS AND RIVERS MAY ALSO RISE...THEREFORE SEEK
HIGHER GROUND IF THREATENED BY FLOOD WATERS.
LAT...LON 3408 8256 3435 8248 3437 8234 3432 8233
3432 8231 3428 8231 3423 8225 3419 8224
3416 8224 3411 8227 3407 8232
NEDSPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
906 AM EDT FRI SEP 23 2011
NCZ036-056-057-069>072-082-SCZ009-014-231430-
CABARRUS-CATAWBA-CHESTER-GASTON-IREDELL-LINCOLN-MECKLENBURG-ROWAN-
UNION-YORK-
906 AM EDT FRI SEP 23 2011
...HEAVY RAIN WILL AFFECT CABARRUS...EASTERN CHESTER...EASTERN
GASTON...EASTERN LINCOLN...EASTERN YORK...IREDELL...
MECKLENBURG...ROWAN...SOUTHEASTERN CATAWBA AND WESTERN UNION
COUNTIES THROUGH 1030 AM EDT...
AT 859 AM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED AN
AREA OF HEAVY RAIN OVER THE AREA MOVING NORTHEAST AROUND 20 MPH.
RAINFALL RATES WILL BE AROUND ONE INCH PER HOUR IN SOME AREAS
THROUGH 1030 AM.
THE HEAVY RAIN MAY FLOOD LOW LYING AREAS SUCH AS DITCHES AND
UNDERPASSES...PARTICULARLY IN THE CHARLOTTE METRO AREA. ALSO...SMALL
CREEKS IN AND AROUND CHARLOTTE WILL SHOW RAPID RISES. AVOID THESE
AREAS AND DO NOT CROSS FLOODED ROADS. WATER LEVELS OF SMALL STREAMS
AND RIVERS MAY ALSO RISE...THEREFORE SEEK HIGHER GROUND IF
THREATENED BY FLOOD WATERS.
LAT...LON 3519 8050 3518 8047 3481 8071 3481 8079
3482 8080 3494 8079 3505 8089 3495 8086
3484 8086 3482 8089 3470 8085 3465 8089
3456 8087 3454 8089 3457 8121 3597 8098
3559 8021
LGThe Greer radar (KGSP), 134 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:44 UTC.
3 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
A webcam and stream gage verified that McMullen Creek overflowed its banks and flooded Addison Dr.
A webcam and stream gage verified that Briar Creek flooded Shamrock Dr.
The West Fork of Twelve Mile Creek overflowed its banks in northwest Union County, flooding a portion of Chestnut Lane.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2011Every state in 2011This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, September 2011
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: 347279, 348105, 347274.