Very heavy rain produced flash flooding in Whiteville.
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The episode as NWS ILM wrote it up.
Very heavy rain produced flash flooding in Whiteville.
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 Wilmington, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 5, 2:14 PM EST, 1 minute earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Wilmington NC 314 PM EDT FRI AUG 5 2016 .SYNOPSIS... A weak front will waver in the vicinity through the weekend maintaining seasonable temperatures and humidity, along with good chances for showers and thunderstorms. Another cold front will drop into the area Monday before stalling through the middle of next week. This will bring even better rain chances and slightly cooler temperatures. A warming trend will begin late next week. && .NEAR TERM /UNTIL 6 AM SATURDAY MORNING/... As of 315 PM Friday...We continue to see widely scattered showers area- wide with a focus on the weak sea-breeze front and a decaying frontal boundry this afternoon, which is captured very well by the latest HRRR runs. Forecast convective indices once again are very similar to yesterday and indicate a modestly unstable and very moist column. The P/W content may actually be a bit higher at 2.3 inches. A variety of boundry interactions will help bring scattered convection to the area for the remainder of this afternoon and into the evening. Storm motion is again very slow at around 5 kts, so localized flooding from slow-moving storms remains a concern. WIll retain scattered to numerous shower and thunderstorm wording for the remainder of this afternoon and into the evening, with rain potential gradually decreasing overnight. A short wave passing primarily to the north may enhance convection this evening though. Overnight temperatures will dip into the mid 70s according to a consensus of guidance. This is a bit higher than normal and due to dew points remaining elevated in the mid 70s. && .SHORT TERM /6 AM SATURDAY MORNING THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT/... As of 315 PM Friday...A cold front descending from the north will move across the eastern Carolinas late on Sunday. Ample moisture, a moderately unstable column and multiple boundry interactions, along with the front itself for Sunday, will combine to bring at least scattered convection each day, primarily diurnally-driven, in the afternoons and evenings. Some mid-level support in the form of upper short waves will also act to spark off and sustain convection. Daytime temperatures will remain seasonal on both days. Nighttime temperatures will be a bit higher than normal as dewpoints will remain in the mid 70s. && .LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH FRIDAY/... As of 315 PM Friday...A cold front will drop down into North Carolina on Monday while a trough extends up the southeast coast from low pressure over Fl/eastern Gulf coast. A broad mid to upper level trough reaching down from the north will keep flow oriented more west to east and will not give the cold front too much of a push to the south on Monday through Wed. This should keep a greater E-SE flow over the local area with a good moisture feed off the atlantic and decent lift and convergence associated with these features as well as along sea breeze/land breeze boundaries. The easterly component to the flow should produce greater amt of night time showers pushing on shore. By Thurs it looks like Atlantic ridge will expand westward into the Carolinas nudging the low and trough to the west and pushing any remnants of front back north. This will produce a deeper SW-S flow over the area with a continued moisture feed. Actually not expecting much of a change in Pcp Water values up near 2 inches but convection will be limited more to localized boundaries such as the sea breeze front and therefore should see less overall coverage. The easterly fetch along with clouds and shwrs on top of lower heights aloft should keep temps near or slightly below climo in the aftn and above at night to start. By Wed, the ridge builds in from the east and heights rise, and convection should become less widespread. Therefore expect a slight uptick in aftn temps to just above climo and lower overnight temps. Overall, expecting max temps in the mid 80s Mon and Tues and up around 90 Wed thru Fri with overnight lows in the mid 70s most places. && .AVIATION /19Z FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... As of 18Z...Showers and thunderstorms basically affecting all terminals this afternoon. Addressed with the usual tempo MVFR groups. The activity should once again diminish this evening leading to the challenge of possible IFR ceilings or visibilities. Used tempo groups to address as well. Outside of these conditions VFR conditions should prevail. EXTENDED OUTLOOK...Isolated to scattered afternoon and evening convection each day may result in localized MVFR/IFR conditions. Each morning may also observe brief MVFR/IFR from fog and/or low ceilings. && .MARINE... NEAR TERM /THROUGH TONIGHT/... As of 315 PM Friday...A frontal boundry will gradually lift north of the coastal waters this evening. Winds north of Cape Fear this afternoon are generally northerly with southerly winds to the south. However, as the front lifts north winds will become south to southwesterly throughout the waters in the 10 to 15 kt range. Expect higher gusts in the vicinity of showers or thunderstorms. Seas will be right around 3 ft this afternoon with some 4 footers possible overnight. Conditions are moderately favorable for the remainder of this afternoon for waterspout formation. SHORT TERM /SATURDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NIGHT/... As of 315 PM Friday...A cold front descending from the north will move across the waters late on Sunday. Winds will increase to 15 to 20 kts from the SW on Saturday afternoon as the gradient tightens in advance of this front. Seas will build to 3 to 5 ft in response. Winds and seas will gradually diminish in the early morning hours of Sunday as the front makes its close approach. LONG TERM /MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY/... As of 315 PM Friday...A cold front will drop into the area Monday while a trough of low pressure will extend up the southeast coast from low over Fl/eastern gulf. This will produce a more E-SE flow through Mon into Tues. By Wed, the atlantic ridge builds westward and winds will go back to the S-SW heading into the second half of the week. The gradient will be weak overall and therefore expect winds to generally remain 10 kts or less with a slight uptick in the aftn due to sea breeze. A longer period up to 10 sec, SE swell will dominate over the shorter period wind waves through much of the period. Expect seas diminishing through Monday into Tues down to 2-4 ft range and remaining there through Wed. && .ILM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... SC...None. NC...None. MARINE...None. && SYNOPSIS...SHK NEAR TERM...REK SHORT TERM...REK LONG TERM...RGZ AVIATION...SHK
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 330 AM EDT FRI AUG 5 2016 NCZ087-096-099-105-107-109-SCZ017-023-024-032-033-039-053-055-060730- ROBESON-BLADEN-COLUMBUS-INLAND PENDER-INLAND NEW HANOVER- INLAND BRUNSWICK-MARLBORO-DARLINGTON-DILLON-FLORENCE-MARION- WILLIAMSBURG-INLAND HORRY-INLAND GEORGETOWN- 330 AM EDT FRI AUG 5 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA AND NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE TODAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE SATURDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. NCZ106-108-110-SCZ054-056-060730- COASTAL PENDER-COASTAL NEW HANOVER-COASTAL BRUNSWICK-COASTAL HORRY- COASTAL GEORGETOWN- 330 AM EDT FRI AUG 5 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA AND NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN IN SPOTS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN SATURDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. AMZ250-252-254-256-060730- COASTAL WATERS FROM SURF CITY TO CAPE FEAR NC OUT 20 NM- COASTAL WATERS FROM CAPE FEAR NC TO LITTLE RIVER INLET SC OUT 20 NM- COASTAL WATERS FROM LITTLE RIVER INLET TO MURRELLS INLET SC OUT 20 NM- COASTAL WATERS FROM MURRELLS INLET TO SOUTH SANTEE RIVER SC OUT 20 NM- 330 AM EDT FRI AUG 5 2016 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WILL REDUCE VISIBILITY TO 1 NM OR LESS. CLOUD TO SEA LIGHTNING. ISOLATED MORNING WATERSPOUTS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN SATURDAY. ISOLATED MORNING WATERSPOUTS SATURDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. 8
The Wilmington radar (KLTX), 45 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:14 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Over four inches of rain fell in less than an hour in southern Whiteville. Flooding was reported on Madison Street, Hay Street, Talbot, and West Main Street and Lee Rd. Water was up to the windows on cars.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, August 2016
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: 658233.