South Carolina, 2014

Flash Flood in South Carolina, May 15, 2014

May 15, 2014 · NWS CAE · 1 event in 1 county or zone

Locally heavy rains of 1 to 2 inches produced some flash flooding on the south side of Columbia around the fairgrounds and further south.

Where it happened

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  • Tornadoes
  • Tropical storms and surge
  • Floods
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  • Hail
  • Winter weather
  • Heat and drought
  • Cold
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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 happened

The episode as NWS CAE wrote it up.

Locally heavy rains of 1 to 2 inches produced some flash flooding on the south side of Columbia around the fairgrounds and further south.

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 Columbia, SC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 15, 5:36 AM EST, 49 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 15, 5:36 AM EST, 49 minutes before
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Hazardous weather outlook, May 15, 3:33 AM EST, 2 hours 52 minutes before
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In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 15, 1:59 AM EST, 4 hours 26 minutes before
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Special weather statement, May 15, 2:47 AM EST, 3 hours 38 minutes before
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The radar

The Columbia radar (KCAE), 11 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 11:26 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.

Flash Flood, Richland

When
May 15, 6:25 AM EST to 7:25 AM EST
Where
Richland County, Columbia to 0.3 mi NW of Woodland Terrace
Cause
Heavy Rain
Reported by
911 Call Center
Coordinates
34.000, -81.020

Dispatch passed along a report of flash flooding with of 6 to 12 inches of water in low lying areas of south Columbia and the fairgrounds. Radar estimated around an inch of rain fell in a half hour.

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

More

Every storm in South Carolina in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in South Carolina, May 2014

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 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 507045.