Tornadoes · United States · North Carolina · 2003

F1 tornado, Reepsville, North Carolina, May 15, 2003

This F1 tornado ran 3.0 miles across Lincoln County on May 15, 2003, touching down at 6:20 PM EDT and reaching 100 yards wide. It killed nobody, and did $50,000 of property damage.

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mphthis tornado

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. F2113 to 157 mph

    Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.

  4. F3158 to 206 mph

    Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. F5261 to 318 mph

    Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.

  7. Unrated

    The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

The record

Rating
F1
Date
May 15, 2003
Touchdown
6:20 PM EDT (22:20 UTC)
Path length
3.0 miles (4.8 km)
Path width
100 yards (91 m)
Deaths
0
Injuries
0
Property damage
$50,000
County
Lincoln County
Touchdown point
35.550, -81.400
Lift-off point
35.520, -81.370
Record number
196

What the Weather Service recorded

This tornado destroyed a barn and caused roof damage to several houses and mobile homes. The porch of a church was destroyed. Numerous trees were also blown down.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the tornado touched down, 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 tornado touched down at May 15, 4:20 PM EDT, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 15, 4:20 PM EDT, 2 hours before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
420 PM EDT THU MAY 15 2003

UPDATE-

ZFP UPDATED TO INCLUDE SVR TSTM WATCH INFORMATION UNTIL 10 PM.

PREVIOUS DISCUSSION -

LOOKS LIKE WE WILL BE DEALING WITH A COUPLE OF CONVECTIVE COMPLEXES
FOR THE IMMEDIATE SHORT TERM PERIOD WITH THE BEST TSTM CVRG THIS
EVENING ACRS MY NC ZONES...CLOSER TO THE TRACKS OF THE SUPPORTING
S/WVS. LATEST LAPS DATA INDICATES CAPE VALUES APRCHG 2000 J/KG
ACRS WRN NC...AND COMBINED WITH SOME LARGE SCALE LIFT FROM
AFOREMENTIONED S/WVS...MODERATE CYCLONIC MID-LVL FLOW ON THE
ORDER OF 35-40 KTS...ALL AIDED BY THIS AREA COMING UNDER THE
LEFT EXIT REGION OF 105KT 250 MB JET...SVR STORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE.
ATTM...PLAN ON EVENING POPS OF SCATTERED 50 CVRG FOR THE NORTHERN
TIER AND CHC 30 FOR THE SOUTHERN 1/2. WILL KEEP CHCS GOING THRU
MIDNIGHT UNTIL LARGE SCALE STABILIZATION OCCURS AND LIFT FROM
WAVE OVER KY/TN SHIFTS EAST OF CWFA.

CWFA TO COME UNDER A BROAD AND DEEP...BUT GRADUALLY WEAKENING
WSW FLOW FRIDAY AND FRIDAY AS SFC FRONT...WHICH IS APRCHG FROM
THE NW TONIGHT...SAGS INTO THE AREA. OVERALL...ATMOSPHERE LOOKS
TO BE PRETTY WEAKLY FORCED...BUT AS SOME DEEPER RH CREEPS
NORTHWARD BACK INTO AREA...AND THE UPGLIDE FLOW INCREASES SOME...
HAVE GONE WITH 30 POP FRIDAY NIGHT...UP FROM SILENT 20 POP DURING
THE DAY. CHCS FOR DEEP CONVECTION SATURDAY STILL ON TRACK WITH FLOW
AND MOISTURE INCREASING RESPECTIVELY AS LLVL BAROCLINIC ZONE LOOKS
TO BE FLOATING ALONG OUR SOUTHERN TIER DURING THE DAY.

MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ROUGHLY LEADING TOWARD SYNOPTIC SOLUTION OF
ATTEMPTING TO DEVELOP CAD EVENT SOUTHWARD INTO THE CWFA SUN-TUE.
EARLY IN THIS PERIOD...HANDLING OF APRCHG SOUTHERN STREAM ENERGY
EVEN LESS CERTAIN ALONG WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR SUBSTANTIAL PCPN CVRG
ACRS THE CWFA. AT THIS JUNCTURE PREFER TO FAVOR A WETTER AND STABLE
SOLUTION THIS PERIOD...BUT IT GENERALLY SHAKES OUT TO JUST CHC POPS
EACH DAY. FOR THE LATTER PERIODS...STILL ON TRACK FOR A SCOURING
COLD FRONT AND POTENTIAL FOR DEEP CONVECTION WEDNESDAY FOLLOWED BY A
DRY DAY 7.

FCSTID = 55
GSP   59  83  61  75 /  30  20  30  30
AND   59  83  61  75 /  30  20  30  30
CLT   59  83  61  75 /  30  20  30  30
HKY   58  81  60  74 /  50  20  30  30
AVL   56  78  58  71 /  40  20  30  30

.GSP...
GA...NONE.
NC...NONE.
SC...NONE.
Hazardous weather outlook, May 15, 6:03 AM EDT, 12 hours 17 minutes before
GAZ010-017-018-026-028-029-NCZ033>037-048>059-062>072-082-SCZ001>014-
019-151200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE-SPARTANBURG SC
603 AM EDT THU MAY 15 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA...
UPSTATE SOUTH CAROLINA...AND EXTREME NORTHEAST GEORGIA.

.DAY ONE...TODAY
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL END THIS MORNING...BUT REDEVELOPMENT
IS EXPECTED LATER TODAY AS A STRONG SHORTWAVE APPROACHES THE REGION.
IF THE FORECAST AREA RECEIVES ENOUGH SUN FROM LATE MORNING THROUGH
EARLY AFTERNOON ONCE THE MORNING SHOWERS HAVE ENDED...THE ATMOSPHERE
COULD BECOME UNSTABLE ENOUGH TO SUPPORT STRONG...OR EVEN
SEVERE...THUNDERSTORMS. THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS PLACED ALL
OF THE FORECAST AREA IN A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE STORMS TODAY. SEE
THE LATEST SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FROM OUR OFFICE...PRODUCT PIL
CAESPSGSP...FOR MORE DETAILED LOCALIZED INFORMATION ON SEVERE
WEATHER POTENTIAL.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON. SPOTTER GROUPS
ARE URGED TO STAY UP TO DATE WITH LATEST CURRENT FORECAST THINKING
FOR POTENTIAL NET ACTIVATION.

BURRUS

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 15, 5:29 PM EDT, 51 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
529 PM EDT THU MAY 15 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

420 PM     LENOIR                    NC   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/15/03   LENOIR                         FROM AMATEUR RADIO NET

RBN
Local storm report, May 15, 5:31 PM EDT, 49 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
531 PM EDT THU MAY 15 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

529 PM     2 E ASHEVILLE             NC   1.00 INCH HAIL
05/15/03   BUNCOMBE                       AMATEUR RADIO NET
                                          REPORTED HAIL ON EAST
                                          SIDE OF ASHEVILLE

RBN
Local storm report, May 15, 5:44 PM EDT, 36 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
544 PM EDT THU MAY 15 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

520 PM     2 N HICKORY               NC   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/15/03   CATAWBA                        REPORT FROM AMATEUR RADIO
                                          NET

RBN
Local storm report, May 15, 5:58 PM EDT, 22 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
558 PM EDT THU MAY 15 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

545 PM     FAIRVIEW                  NC   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/15/03   11 SE ASHEVILLE                GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL
                                          REPORTED IN FAIRVIEW

RBN
Local storm report, May 15, 6:06 PM EDT, 14 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
606 PM EDT THU MAY 15 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

545 PM     7 E FAIRVIEW              NC   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/15/03   BUNCOMBE                       SPOTTER REPORTED HAIL UP
                                          TO GOLF BALL SIZE
                                          COVERING GROUND.
Local storm report, May 15, 6:09 PM EDT, 11 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREENVILLE SPARTANBURG SC
609 PM EDT THU MAY 15 2003

TIME(EDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

600 PM     HILDEBRAN                 NC   .75 INCH HAIL
05/15/03   BURKE                          FROM COUNTY COMMS CENTER

SVRGSP

The air that afternoon

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), 12:00Z

10.3 hours before the tornado, 147 km from the path. May 15, 2003.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2003-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 0 joules per kilogram, CIN -77719, lifted condensation level 900 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 12:00Z on 2003-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 10 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 37 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-77719 J/kg
Surface CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
900 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
15 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0
0-3 km lapse rate
4.9 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC (KGSO), 00:00Z

1.7 hours after it, 147 km from the path. May 16, 2003.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 2003-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel lifted from the surface. Mixed-layer CAPE 51 joules per kilogram, CIN -95, lifted condensation level 791 meters above ground. Wind barbs in knots down the right edge.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed. The warm shading is its CAPE, the cool shading the inhibition it has to break through.
HodographHodograph, Greensboro/Hi Pt, NC at 00:00Z on 2003-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers as a curve, rings every 10 meters per second labeled in knots. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 144 square meters per square second, 0 to 6 km bulk shear 27 knots.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km. RM and LM are the right and left moving storms Bunkers' method gives; the shaded area is the 0 to 1 km storm-relative helicity.
Mixed-layer CAPE
51 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-95 J/kg
Surface CAPE
32 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
791 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
144 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
200 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1
0-3 km lapse rate
5.3 K/km

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The surface observations

Lincolnton (IPJ), 21 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

Time (UTC)Temp (°F)Dew point (°F)WindGust (kt)Pressure (mb)Weather
00:00 UTC

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The radar

The Greer radar (KGSP), 105 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 22:20 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

This ground now

The live radar over the trackEvery 2003 tornado in North CarolinaEvery tornado in North Carolina since 1950Warnings in force in North Carolina nowThe forecast where you are

The other tornadoes of May 15, 2003

46 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 155:10 PM EDTF1Knox, TN2.550$150,000
May 154:12 PM CDTF0Cimarron, OK0.1100
May 155:15 PM EDTF1Knox, TN1.550$200,000
May 154:25 PM CDTF1Cimarron, OK5.0200$40,000
May 153:39 PM MDTF2Baca, CO5.0200$120,000
May 153:42 PM MDTF0Kiowa, CO1.075
May 154:45 PM CDTF0Cimarron, OK0.150
May 155:36 PM CDTF1Dallam, TX10.01,320$30,000
May 155:41 PM CDTF0Dallam, TX1.0500$10,000
May 156:46 PM CDTF0Texas, OK0.150
May 157:20 PM CDTF0Texas, OK0.530
May 157:29 PM CDTF2Seward, KS2.5100$6.0 million
May 157:35 PM CDTF0Texas, OK0.520$10,000
May 157:38 PM CDTF0Sherman, TX1.050
May 157:40 PM CDTF2Seward, KS4.9100$150,000
May 157:45 PM CDTF0Texas, OK0.3100$20,000
May 157:58 PM CDTF0Moore, TX6.0200
May 158:15 PM CDTF0Sherman, TX0.150
May 158:15 PM CDTF0Sherman, TX0.120
May 158:30 PM CDTF0Gray, TX0.140
May 158:31 PM CDTF0Sherman, TX0.350
May 158:33 PM CDTF1Texas, OK2.030$30,000
May 158:37 PM CDTF0Donley, TX0.550
May 158:42 PM CDTF0Jones, TX0.320$1,000
May 158:45 PM CDTF0Texas, OK1.040
May 158:59 PM CDTF1Shackelford, TX2.0150$10,000
May 158:59 PM CDTF0Donley, TX0.120
May 159:00 PM CDTF0Beaver, OK0.820
May 159:10 PM CDTF1Meade, KS2.0100$300,000
May 159:23 PM CDTF0Hutchinson, TX2.030
May 159:25 PM CDTF2Shackelford, TX1.5800$50,000
May 159:25 PM CDTF2Shackelford, TX1.5450$3,000
May 159:30 PM CDTF2Seward, KS2.5100$8.0 million
May 159:43 PM CDTF1Wheeler, TX18.0100$150,000
May 159:44 PM CDTF0Carson, TX0.120
May 159:45 PM CDTF1Meade, KS1.050$50,000
May 1510:00 PM CDTF0Eastland, TX12.0300$100,000
May 1510:10 PM CDTF0Shackelford, TX1.050
May 1510:12 PM CDTF1Shackelford, TX1.0150
May 1510:30 PM CDTF0Wheeler, TX0.550
May 1510:36 PM CDTF0Clark, KS1.3100
May 1510:53 PM CDTF2Wheeler, TX to OK15.51,760$270,000
May 1511:13 PM CDTF0Eastland, TX0.150
May 1511:21 PM CDTF0Wheeler, TX0.150
May 1511:42 PM CDTF0Ford, KS0.850
May 1511:58 PM CDTF1Ford, KS2.050

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.