Locally heavy rains over downtown Columbia sent the Rocky Branch Creek over it's banks at Main and Whaley with 1 to 2 feet covering the road and closing it.
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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 CAE wrote it up.
Locally heavy rains over downtown Columbia sent the Rocky Branch Creek over it's banks at Main and Whaley with 1 to 2 feet covering the road and closing it.
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 31, 3:04 AM EST, 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 404 AM EDT SAT MAY 31 2014 .SYNOPSIS... A SLOW MOVING FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO SLOWLY MOVE THROUGH THE REGION TODAY. THE FRONT IS FORECAST TO BE JUST TO THE SOUTH OF THE AREA BY SUNDAY. DRY WEATHER SHOULD RETURN TO THE AREA FOR THE EARLY PORTIONS OF THE WEEK. && .NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... EARLY THIS MORNING...SURFACE TROUGH APPEARS TO BE SITUATED ACROSS THE CENTRAL MIDLANDS...WITH CALM WINDS SOUTH OF THE BOUNDARY...AND LIGHT NORTHEASTERLY WINDS TO THE NORTH OF THE BOUNDARY. MEANWHILE ALONG THE FRONT...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AND MOVE EAST/SOUTHEASTWARD ALONG THE FRONT. SOME HEAVY RAINFALL WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS. MORNING LOWS WILL BE IN THE UPPER 60S. TODAY AND TONIGHT...THE WEAK SURFACE FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO PUSH SLOWLY SOUTHWARD TOWARDS THE CSRA THROUGH THE DAY. THERE ALSO CONTINUES TO BE NUMEROUS MESOSCALE BOUNDARIES ACROSS THE AREA...ALL OF WHICH COULD ACT AS LOW-LEVEL CONVERGENCE TRIGGERS FOR SHOWERS AND STORMS THROUGH THE DAY. PWAT VALUES REMAIN RELATIVELY HIGH ONCE AGAIN...WHICH WILL MEAN THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAINFALL...AND STRONG WINDS DUE TO PRECIP LOADING IN THE HEAVIER STORMS. THE BEST CHANCE FOR ANY RAINFALL WILL CONTINUE TO BE ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE FRONT. DRIER AIR WILL BE ATTEMPTING TO FILTER INTO THE NORTHERN COUNTIES INTO THE AFTERNOON...WHICH SHOULD HELP TO LIMIT ANY ACTIVITY ACROSS THAT AREA. IN GENERAL...SLIGHT CHANCE POPS NORTH...TO HIGH CHANCE POPS SOUTH- CENTRAL TO SOUTH THROUGH THE PERIOD. TEMPERATURES IN THE MIDDLE 80S FOR AFTERNOON HIGHS...WITH OVERNIGHT LOWS IN THE MIDDLE 60S. && .SHORT TERM /SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT/... UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BE IN CONTROL THROUGH THE PERIOD. AT THE SURFACE...DRIER AIRMASS MOVE INTO THE AREA. THIS SHOULD PRODUCE A MAINLY DRY FORECAST SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT. TEMPERATURES SHOULD REMAIN AROUND NORMAL THROUGH THE PERIOD. && .LONG TERM /WEDNESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL BEGIN TO FLATTEN OUT IN RESPONSE TO A SERIES OF TROFS SWEEPING EAST ACROSS THE NORTHEASTERN US STARTING MID WEEK. RIBBON OF GULF MOISTURE ON WEST SIDE OF HIGH JUST OFF SE COAST WILL AID IN CONVECTION DEVELOPMENT...ESPECIALLY ALONG THE SEA-BREEZE...AND IN THE UPSTATE DUE TO INTERACTION WITH THE TERRAIN. SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY PROBABLY LIMITED DUE TO WEAK FORCING THOUGH. OTHERWISE FORECAST AREA STAYS IN LIGHT UPPER FLOW THROUGH THE EXTENDED PERIOD AS MAIN TROF ENERGY STAYS WELL NORTH. SCATTERED DIURNALLY DRIVEN CONVECTION EXPECTED. NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES WARMING TO SLIGHTLY ABOVE NORMAL. && .AVIATION /08Z SATURDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... AN EAST-WEST ORIENTED FRONTAL SYSTEM IS SITUATED ACROSS THE CENTRAL MIDLANDS...WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS NEAR CAE/CUB. HIGH-LOW LEVEL MOISTURE OVERNIGHT/NOCTURNAL COOLING AND FRONTAL BOUNDARY SUPPORTS STRATUS AND OR FOG DEVELOPMENT...SO EXPECT MVFR/IFR CONDITIONS OVERNIGHT. FRONT WILL BE MOVING THROUGH THE AREA SATURDAY AND FOCUS MAY BE SHIFTING SOUTH DURING THE AFTERNOON...SO BETTER CHANCE AFTERNOON STORMS APPEARS TO BE IN THE CSRA. VFR DEVELOPING BY LATE MORNING AND RESTRICTIONS MAINLY NEAR CONVECTION. EXTENDED AVIATION OUTLOOK...MOISTURE ASSOCIATED WITH THE REMNANTS OF A STALLED FRONT WILL CONTINUE DURING MUCH OF THE OUTLOOK PERIOD. EXPECT RESTRICTIONS AT TIMES MAINLY FROM AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS AND EARLY MORNING STRATUS AND FOG. && .CAE WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SC...NONE. GA...NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE COLUMBIA SC 408 AM EDT SAT MAY 31 2014 GAZ040-063>065-077-SCZ015-016-018-020>022-025>031-035>038-041-010815- LINCOLN-MCDUFFIE-COLUMBIA-RICHMOND-BURKE-LANCASTER-CHESTERFIELD- MCCORMICK-NEWBERRY-FAIRFIELD-KERSHAW-EDGEFIELD-SALUDA-LEXINGTON- RICHLAND-LEE-AIKEN-SUMTER-BARNWELL-ORANGEBURG-CALHOUN-CLARENDON- BAMBERG- 408 AM EDT SAT MAY 31 2014 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL GEORGIA AND CENTRAL SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL ONCE AGAIN HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...ALONG WITH STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL HAIL. CAN NOT RULE OUT AN ISOLATED SEVERE STORM OR FLOOD EVENT WITH THE SLOW MOVING STORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The Columbia radar (KCAE), 10 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 08:33 UTC.
2 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Flooding occurred at Rocky Branch Creek and Pickens Street. The creek crested at 8 feet at 345am EDT.
Flooding occurred along the Rocky Branch Creek at Main and Whaley streets. The creek crested at 7.8 feet around 4am EDT.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in South Carolina in 2014Every state in 2014This day in weather historyWarnings in South Carolina, May 2014
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: 509687, 509688.