1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
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 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 Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 15, 1:05 PM CST, 1 hour 51 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 205 PM CDT FRI AUG 15 2003 THE WEATHER HAS BEEN QUIET SO FAR TODAY WITH LESS COVERAGE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS COMPARED TO YESTERDAY. CURRENTLY...THERE ARE SOME STORMS THAT ARE IN WEST GEORGIA THAT ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO OUR EXTREME SOUTHEAST COUNTIES LATER THIS AFTERNOON. ALSO ON THE RADAR...SOME ISOLATED SHOWERS ARE POPPING UP ACROSS NORTHEAST ALABAMA. SO TONIGHT WILL KEEP AN ISOLATED CHANCE IN THE FORECAST FOR THE EASTERN COUNTIES. WE ARE IN NORTHERLY FLOW THANKS TO THE BERMUDA HIGH MOVING WESTWARD. THE MODELS ARE IN AGREEMENT THAT SATURDAY WILL BE OUR BEST CHANCE FOR RAIN THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD. PW/S ARE OVER 2 INCHES ON SATURDAY WHICH ALONG WITH DAYTIME HEATING WILL ENHANCE THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE AS A SHORTWAVE MOVES THROUGH THE CWA. A WEAK COLD FRONT IS FORECASTED TO PUSH INTO THE STATE ON SUNDAY BUT WITHOUT MUCH MOISTURE...THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE WILL BE LIMITED TO ISOLATED FOR THE NORTHERN COUNTIES TO SCATTERED FOR THE SOUTHERN COUNTIES. MONDAY AND TUESDAY...THE PW/S FALL DUE TO DRIER AIR FILTERING INTO THE AREA. SINCE ITS STILL SUMMERTIME AND PLENTY OF DAYTIME HEATING IS EXPECTED WITH LITTLE IMPULSES ROTATING AROUND THE AREA...JUST CANT RULE OUT ISOLATED AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE EXTENDED PERIOD. AS FAR AS TEMPERATURES ARE CONCERNED...SHOULD BE AROUND SEASONAL. SO TOOK A BLEND OF GUIDANCE NUMBERS AS THEY ARE ALL AROUND NORMAL SUMMERTIME TEMPERATURES FOR THIS AREA. .PRELIMINARY NUMBERS... BHM 73 91 71 91 70/ 20 40 30 20 MGM 73 93 72 92 72/ 20 40 30 30 .BHM...NONE. HUDSON/KH
ALZ011>015-017>050-152000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 100 PM CDT FRI AUG 15 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE (THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT)... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN (SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY)... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL WILL NOT BE NECESSARY THROUGH TONIGHT.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck the northwest corner of a house on Lee Road 836 causing six bricks to be knocked out of the outer wall at that corner. A metal fence post was blackened, and a garage door opener, a satellite dish, and two satellite receivers were rendered inoperative.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Alabama, August 2003
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: 5368375.