1 rip current, 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 Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 31, 1:14 PM CST, 1 hour 16 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 153 PM CDT SUN 31 AUG 2003 .SHORT TERM...PRESSURE GRADIENT BETWEEN GRACE TO THE WEST AND THE RIDGE TO THE EAST SLACKENED SLIGHTLY...EXPECT IT WILL CONTINUE TO SLOWLY WEAKEN THROUGH TONIGHT AS GRACE WEAKENS FURTHER ALTHOUGH THE HIGH DOES NOT. THE GRADIENT PROBLEM WOULD AFFECT THE MARINE PICTURE THROUGH TONIGHT WITH SCEC CONDITIONS OVER THE WESTERN MARINE ZONES. WESTLANT RIDGE WILL BUILD INTO SE STATES INTO MONDAY. IT WILL HELP DRY THINGS QUITE A BIT. THIS WOULD INCLUDE EFFECTS FROM UPPER RIDGING BUT THAT WOULD RETREAT EARLY IN THE WEEK AS A TROUGH MOVES IN FROM THE WEST. SURFACE GRADIENT ALONG THE ALABAMA COAST IS RELUCTANT TO FLATTEN MAINLY BECAUSE OF THAT RIDGE EAST OF HERE. WOULD AFFECT THE FIRE PICTURE AND MARINE PICTURE TO BE DISCUSSED SEPARATELY. .EXTENDED...AFTER PASSAGE OF THE WEAK FRONT MIN TEMPS SLIGHTLY RETREAT INTO THE UPPER 60S. RETURN TO SCATTERED SEABREEZE PRECIPITATION WOULD RETURN LATER THIS WEEK AS AN UPPER TROUGH APPROACHES FROM THE NORTHWEST. .MARINE...MODERATE SOUTHEAST FLOW TO CONTINUE ALL ZONES THROUGH TONIGHT AS SURFACE GRADIENT REMAINS FAIRLY STEEP BETWEEN WEAKENING TROPICAL DEPRESSION GRACE OVER TEXAS...AND THE HIGH OVER THE CAROLINAS. PLAN KEEPING EXERCISE CAUTION ALL ZONES BUT WILL ASSESS THE SITUATION CLOSER TO ISSUANCE TIME. AN UPPER LEVEL SUB-TROPICAL RIDGE STRENGTHENING OVER THE SOUTHEAST STATES WILL HELP KEEP CONVECTION ISOLATED THROUGH MID WEEK. SOUTHEAST WINDS DECREASE MONDAY AS THE HIGH CONTINUES TO WEAKEN...ALLOWING SEAS TO SUBSIDE. EXPECT A LITTLE MORE CONVECTION TO DEVELOP AS WEAK UPPER DISTURBANCES MOVE OVER THE AREA. WEAK SURFACE HIGH WILL EXTEND ACROSS THE NORTHERN GULF THROUGH THE LATE THIS WEEK...LITTLE CHANGE EXPECTED. .FIRE...GENERALLY WILL SEE ELEVATED NOCTURNAL DISPERSION TONIGHT DUE TO SOUTH TO SOUTHEAST WIND...BUT THE DAYTIME RH AND DISPERSION WOULD BE PRETTY MODERATE. NOCTURNAL DISPERSION TO DECREASE THROUGH TUE. .PRELIMINARY TEMPS / POPS... MOBILE 77 89 75 89 / 10 10 10 30 PENSACOLA 78 89 76 88 / 10 10 10 30 DESTIN 78 86 78 86 / 00 10 20 30 EVERGREEN 71 91 69 89 / 00 10 10 30 WAYNESBORO 73 91 71 92 / 10 10 10 30 CAMDEN 71 92 70 89 / 00 10 10 30 77/22 .MOB ... AL...SMALL CRAFT EXERCISE CAUTION GMZ630-650-670. FL...SMALL CRAFT EXERCISE CAUTION GMZ655-675. MS...NONE.
ALZ051>064-FLZ001>006-MSZ067-075-076-078-079-312000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 1145 AM CDT SUN AUG 31 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...INTERIOR SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE. .DAY ONE...(TODAY AND TONIGHT) SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MIDNIGHT SOUTHWEST OF A LINE FROM HINTONVILLE MISSISSIPPI...IN CENTRAL PERRY COUNTY...TO GULF SHORES ALABAMA...IN SOUTHERN BALDWIN COUNTY. THIS DEVELOPMENT IS IN RESPONSE TO AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVING FROM THE NORTHERN GULF INTO SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI. WIND GUSTS TO 35 MPH... FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...AND PERIODS OF VERY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT WITH SOME OF THE STRONGER STORMS. ISOLATED WATERSPOUTS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE THROUGH SUNSET ALONG THE COAST FROM THE WEST END OF DAUPHIN ISLAND TO GULF SHORES. AN UPPER LEVEL SUB-TROPICAL RIDGE WILL CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN OVER THE SOUTHEAST STATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY. THIS FEATURE WILL HELP SUPPRESS THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT NORTHEAST OF THE AFOREMENTIONED LINE. A FEW ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING ACROSS THIS AREA...BUT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. A MODERATE RISK FOR RIP CURRENTS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT DUE TO THE STRONG SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS ALONG THE COAST. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...(MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY) THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL LIMIT THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT TO AN ISOLATED AREAL COVERAGE DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS THROUGH TUESDAY. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL RETURN THE OUTLOOK AREA THROUGH THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK AS AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH APPROACHES FROM THE NORTHWEST. THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF EMERGENCY MANAGERS AND STORM SPOTTERS IS NOT EXPECTED.
ALZ051-052-312100- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 324 PM CDT SUN AUG 31 2003 ...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM IS BEING DETECTED OVER NORTHERN WASHINGTON AND SOUTHERN CHOCTAW COUNTIES IN SOUTHWEST ALABAMA... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM OVER BIGBEE...MOVING NORTH AT 35 MPH. THE THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT AREAS IN AND AROUND...BLADON SPRINGS... SERVICE...BOLINGER...BARRYTOWN...AND CHAPPELL HILL THROUGH 400 PM CDT. THE PRIMARY THREATS FROM THIS STORM ARE STRONG WIND GUSTS TO NEAR 40 MPH...SMALL HAIL...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND HEAVY RAIN. ALTHOUGH BELOW SEVERE LIMITS...THIS STORM COULD DOWN SMALL TREE LIMBS OR BRANCHES AND BLOW AROUND UNSECURED SMALL OBJECTS. FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKES ARE LIKELY...AND PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN COULD RESULT IN BRIEF PONDING OF WATER AROUND LOW LYING...FLOOD PRONE AREAS.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
A twenty-five year old male from the north part of Alabama drowned in rough surf near Gulf Shores. He was swimming in an unguarded private area of the beach when he disappeared in the rough water..
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rip Current, Baldwin | 2003-08-31 | 25 | Male | In Water | Direct |
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: 5376900.