1 flash flood, 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 18, 12:23 PM CST, 2 hours 52 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION - CORRECTED THIRD PARAGRAPH NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 123 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2003 AHH...UPGRADES. THEY NEVER GO AS SMOOTHLY AS YOU HOPE...AND THEY ALWAYS SEEM TO TAKE JUST A LITTLE LONGER THAN PLANNED. ONE SUCH UPGRADE TODAY IS ALLOWING ME TO DO THE FORECAST THE OLD FASHIONED WAY FOR THIS EVENINGS PACKAGE. GFE GRIDS MAY NOT BE SHIPPED OUT TO SURROUNDING OFFICES UNTIL LATER ON THIS AFTERNOON OR EARLY EVENING. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS HAVE FORMED ONCE AGAIN ACROSS AREAS OF ALABAMA THIS AFTERNOON. EXPECT THESE TO DIE OFF QUICKLY AFTER SUNSET THIS EVENING. WILL WAIT UNTIL ISSUANCE TIME BEFORE FINALLY SETTLING ON EXACT POPS. IE DO I GO 20 OR 30 PERCENT. WITH LOW LEVEL MOISTURE STILL AROUND...LIGHT WINDS...NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO LOW LEVELS...AND DRY MID LEVEL AIR OVER US TONIGHT...EXPECT TO SEE SOME PATCHY FOG FORMING ONCE AGAIN BY TOMORROW MORNING...SO WILL WORD ACCORDINGLY. UPPER LEVEL RIDGE CONTINUES TO BUILD JUST TO THE NORTH OF ALABAMA TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY...PUTTING STATE INTO UPPER LEVEL EASTERLY FLOW THROUGH THE END OF THE WEEK. WITH ONLY SLIGHTLY DRIER AIR BEING PUSHED INTO NORTHERN ALABAMA TOMORROW...PLAN ON LEAVING FORECAST RAINFREE FOR NORTHERN ZONES. WILL STILL INCLUDE ISOLATED OR SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS SOUTH. PRELIMS FOLLOW. BHM 73/91/72/91/71 11122 MGM 73/91/72/92/72 22122 .BHM...NONE.
ALZ011>015-017>050-182030- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 129 PM CDT MON AUG 18 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE (THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT)... SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA TODAY AND TONIGHT. BASED ON THE LATEST DATA...THE WET MICROBURST POTENTIAL OVER THE SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA HAS FALLEN TO MODERATE. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN (TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY)... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD NOT BE NECESSARY THROUGH TONIGHT.
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 44 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:16 UTC.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Several roads and creeks were flooded in Hoover and Vestavia Hills.
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: 5368516.