An area of heavy rain fell across the Blue Ridge Mountains and the North Carolina foothills during the morning hours. Shortly before the rain ended, rainfall rates increased to around an inch an hour which caused a few areas of flash flooding.
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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.
An area of heavy rain fell across the Blue Ridge Mountains and the North Carolina foothills during the morning hours. Shortly before the rain ended, rainfall rates increased to around an inch an hour which caused a few areas of flash flooding. Slow moving thunderstorms developed later in the day across the northern foothills and Piedmont of North Carolina. These storms dropped locally very heavy rainfall on already saturated ground resulting in more flooding.
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 14, 6:53 AM EST, 7 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 753 AM EDT MON MAY 14 2012 .SYNOPSIS... LOW PRESSURE AND AN ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT WILL MOVE SLOWLY EAST ACROSS THE REGION THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT. ANOTHER WEAK COLD FRONT WILL CROSS THE AREA WEDNESDAY...BEFORE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN FROM THE NORTH AND REMAINS INTO THE WEEKEND. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... AT 730 AM...BAND OF SHOWERS WITH HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND ISOLATED THUNDER MOVING THROUGH THE NC FOOTHILLS SOUTHWARD INTO THE EASTERN UPSTATE. THESE SHOULD CONTINUE TO TRANLATE NE. EXPECT THERE WILL BE A LULL IN ACTIVITY FROM MID MORNING INTO EARLY AFTERNOON. INSTABILITY WILL INCREASE THIS AFTERNOON SO THAT SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS WILL RE-DEVELOP. WILL TRY TO BETTER REFINE POP GRIDS TO REFLECT THIS LATEST THINKING. PREVIOUS DISCUSSION...STILL EXPECT WIDESPREAD SHWRS WITH DEEP MOISTURE...WAA AND S UPSLOPE FLOW EARLY THIS MRNG WITH THE UPPER TROF AXIS TO THE W AND THE FRONT MOVG INTO THE CWA FROM THE W. LOW LVL FLOW SWINGS SW BY NOON WHICH WILL DIMINISH UPSLOPE BUT WITH HEATING...SFC BASED CAPES OF 800 TO 1000 J/KG ARE EXPECTED. LAPSE RATES IMPROVE SLIGHTLY BUT BULK SHEAR IS LESS THAN 25 KT IN THE SFC TO 6 KM LAYER SO NOT EXPECTING A SIG SEVERE THREAT. RAINFALL TOTALS ARE MORE OF A CONCERN BUT USING LATEST FFG...RAINFALL RATES SHOULD NOT BE ENOUGH FOR SIG FLOODING. MINOR FLOOD ISSUES WILL BE PSBL HOWEVER AND ARE COVERED IN THE HWO. RAINFALL WILL BEGIN TO TAPER OFF BY LATE EVE AS THE BEST MOISTURE AND FORCING MOVE E OF THE AREA BUT WITH THE UPPER TROF AXIS STILL W OF THE AREA AND THE SFC BOUNDARY SLOWLY TRACKING THRU THE CWA...CHC POPS WILL BE CARRIED OVERNIGHT. HIGH TODAY WILL BE BELOW AVG...LOWS TONIGHT ABOVE AVG. && .SHORT TERM /TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT/... AS OF 255 AM MONDAY...AN UPPER LEVEL TROF AND A BROAD AREA OF LOW PRESSURE WILL PERSIST OVER THE AREA TUE. THERE WILL BE SOME POCKETS OF WEAK ULVL ENERGY CROSSING OVERHEAD AND A CONTINUED DIV PATTERN ALOFT. THE BUFR SOUNDINGS SHOW A DEEPLY MOIST AIRMASS IN PLACE AND LITTLE CIN...SO EARLY MORNING MTN SHRA AND AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS CWFA-WIDE WILL BE EASILY DEVELOPED. INSTABILITY WILL BE LOW TO MODERATE WITH HIGHER AMOUNTS ACROSS THE MTNS. SHEAR PROFILES ARE UNIMPRESSIVE WITH ONLY ABOUT 25 KTS OF BULK SHEAR...SO PULSE OR LOOSELY ORGANIZED MULTICELL STORMS ARE EXPECTED. DONT SEE A HUGE SEVERE THREAT RIGHT NOW...BUT SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BECOME RATHER STRONG AND A COUPLE SEVERE...MAINLY FOR HAIL. A RETURN OF HIGHER INSOLATION TUE WILL ALLOW TEMPS TO REACH A COUPLE DEGREES ABOVE NORMAL. LOWS STILL A CAT OR SO ABOVE NORMAL AS WELL. ANOTHER WEAK COLD FRONT WILL CROSS THE CWFA EARLY WED..HOWEVER THERE WILL BE LITTLE AIRMASS CHANGE AND LITTLE ADDED MOISTURE. THE LLVL WILL BECOME N/LY AND GENERALLY WEAK WHILE CROSS SECTIONS SHOW A MODEST AMOUNT OF THETA/E INDUCED INSTABILITY. WEAKER DEEP LAYERED SHEAR THAN ON TUES...BUT THE GFS IS SHOWING A FAIRLY STOUT S/W CROSSING THE AREA FROM THE SW. THIS FEATURE IS NOT SUPPORTED BY THE OTHER OP MODELS TO THE SAME DEGREE...SO WILL COUNT ON ANOTHER DAY OF ISOL/SCT DIURNAL CONVECTION...MOST LIKELY SUB/SEVERE. MAX TEMPS WILL BE SIMILAR TO TUE/S WITH HIGHS AROUND 80 NON/MTNS AND M70S MTN VALLEYS. LOWS WILL BE A BIT COOLER...U50S NON/MTNS AND L50S MTN VALLEYS. && .LONG TERM /THURSDAY THROUGH SUNDAY/... AS OF 315 AM MONDAY...MADE LITTLE CHANGES TO THE EXT FCST AND INCORPORATED 18Z HPC POPS/TEMPS. STILL ANTICIPATE RISING HEIGHTS TO THE WEST TO BUILD A RIDGE AXIS ACROSS THE TN/OH VALLEYS THROUGH THE PERIOD. THIS WILL BRING A CANADIAN SFC HIGH ACROSS THE GLAKES AND OFF THE NEW ENG COAST BY THE WEEKEND. A WEAK BACKDOOR COLD FRONT WILL BE AHEAD OF THE HIGH THU WITH LITTLE IN THE WAY OF PRECIP CHANCES AS THE SOUNDINGS SHOW DEEPER MID LEVEL WARM AIR AND A FAIR AMOUNT OF SFC BASED CIN. THE NRN ZONES COULD SEE AN ISOL SHOWER HOWEVER THU AFTERNOON. THE HIGH WEDGES DOWN THE COAST LATE THU AND NE/LY TO E/LY FLOW PERSISTS INTO SUN. THIS WILL BE A DEEPLY STABLE AIRMASS WITH SOME MEASURE OF A LLVL THETA/E EXCHANGE OR MIX. ALSO...NO SIGFNT LOW PRESSURE/FRONTAL SYSTEMS WILL BE IN THE VICINITY DURING THIS TIME...SO NO POPS FRI THROUGH SUN WITH TEMPS AROUND OR EVEN A TEMP OR TWO BELOW NORMAL IN VERY GOOD INSOLATION. && .AVIATION /12Z MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... AT KCLT...RADAR INDICATES A BAND OF SHOWERS WITH SOME HEAVY DOWNPOURS WEST OF THE AIRFIELD AND THESE WILL MOVE THROUGH IN THE 12Z-14Z TIMEFRAME. EXPECT TEMP IFR CIG/VSBY WITH THIS. SHOULD HAVE A LULL IN PRECIP AFTER THE EARLY MORNING SHOWERS. LOOKS LIKE PREDOMINATE MVFR CONDITIONS WILL IMPROVE TO LOW VFR CIGS EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. INSTABILITY INCREASES THIS AFTERNOON AND EXPECT SCATTERED SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS FORM MID TO LATE AFTERNOON. IFR CONDITIONS SHOULD DEVELOP LATE TONIGHT. ELSEWHERE...SIMILAR TO CLT ALL TERMINALS WITH AT LEAST OCNL IFR CIGS EARLY AND SLOW IMPROVEMENT DURG THE DAY. TS VCNTY MAINLY THIS AFTN. WINDS GENERALLY S-SW 6-10KT THRU THE DAY. OUTLOOK...SCT SHWRS AND TSTMS WITH ASSOC RESTRICTIONS INTO TUE NIGHT BEFORE SOME DRYING WED. MAINLY ISOLD MTN SHOWERS AND TSTMS PSBL THRU LATE WEEK. MRNG FOG PSBL...MAINLY MTN VALLEYS AND NEAR LAKES/RIVERS. 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...SBK NEAR TERM...LG/RB SHORT TERM...SBK LONG TERM...SBK AVIATION...RB
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC 508 AM EDT MON MAY 14 2012 GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033-035>037-048>053-056>059-062>065- 068>072-082-501>510-SCZ001>014-019-150915- 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- 508 AM EDT MON MAY 14 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST GEORGIA...PIEDMONT NORTH CAROLINA...WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA AND UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND SOME OF THESE COULD BECOME STRONG TO SEVERE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. THESE STORMS MAY ALSO PRODUCE PERIODS OF HEAVY RAINFALL. THE RECENT WIDESPREAD RAINFALL HAS KEPT SOIL MOISTURE LEVELS HIGH. THEREFORE...STREAM AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS WILL BE SUSCEPTIBLE TO FLASH FLOODING...ESPECIALLY WHERE AFTERNOON STORMS MAY REGENERATE AND MOVE OVER THE SAME LOCATIONS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTERS ARE REQUESTED TO FORWARD ANY REPORTS OF LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...OR FLASH FLOODING TO OUR OFFICE. KRENTZ
The Greer radar (KGSP), 51 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 11:59 UTC.
7 flash flood, 1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Bat Fork Creek flooded a portion of Airport Rd. Local broadcast media verified that the road was completely flooded and barricaded around mid-morning. Local COCORAHS sites indicated that 3 to 4 inches of rain fell in a 24 hour period across the county.
Heavy rain flooded the Greenway Heritage Trail in Southside Park, closing the park for a|while. Rocky Ford Rd was also covered by water for a while near the county landfill.
St Johns Church Rd was flooded by Lyle creek near Highway 16. The road was closed through the morning hours. A tributary of Lyle Creek flooded portions of Community and Riverbend Roads. The roads were closed for around an hour. Another tributary of Lyle Creek flooded Crossing Creek Rd to a depth of 18 inches. Two track hoes were submerged at this location and water came up to the underpinning on a mobile home.
Water covered the Yadkin River bridge on Indian Grave Road. A mudslide was also reportedly covering one lane of Highway 268 in this same area.
A foot of water was flowing over Piney Grove Circle.
Several buildings were submerged in water on John Kirby Place, off of Indian Grave Road. Several buildings were also flooded along Echo Drive on the north side of Lenoir. The road itself was covered by deep water. Water from Long Branch Creek flooded the yard up to the porch of a house on Hazel Lee Street.
Slow moving thunderstorms dropped very heavy rain over Alexander County. County officials reported that the bridge on David Harman Road was washed out two miles northeast of Ellendale. Part of Barrett Mountain Road was washed out by flood|waters. Several other roads in the western part of the county were covered with water, including All Healing Springs Road and Dover Church Road. Creeks flooded the yards of several residences in the Ellendale community along highway 64/90.
Brookshire Road was flooded by Abingdon Creek. The creek also flooded the parsonage of the Lenoir Pentecostal Holiness Church off of Abington Road about 3 miles west of downtown Lenoir.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, May 2012
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: 385738, 385739, 385741, 385746, 385748, 385761, 385762, 385767.