1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 Feb 21, 8:35 PM CST, 3 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
835 PM CST FRI FEB 21 2003
WILL MAKE ANOTHER QUICK UPDATE TO ZONES TO HEADLINE TORNADO WATCH
NUMBER 13...WHICH WILL BE IN EFFECT FOR THE ENTIRE CWFA UNTIL 08Z
(200 AM) SATURDAY MORNING. AS MENTIONED A LITTLE EARLIER...LOOK FOR
ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY OVER THE REGION DURING THE NEXT HOUR
OR TWO...WITH SOME SVR STORMS POSSIBLE. BEST POTENTIAL FOR BRIEF
SVR WEATHER OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS WILL BE OVER THE WESTERN
FLORIDA PANHANDLE AND SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA...ALONG AND EAST OF
I-65. AS WE APPROACH THE MIDNIGHT HOUR...INDICATIONS ARE THAT A
SQUALL LINE WILL BE MOVING INTO THE FCST AREA FROM THE WEST. SVR
WEATHER WILL BE POSSIBLE AS THIS THIS LINE OF STORMS MOVES EAST
ACROSS THE AREA DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS.
12SHEPHERD
.MS...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT MSZ067-075-076-078-079.
.AL...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT ALZ051>055-061>064.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT TONIGHT AND SATURDAY GMZ630-650-
670.
.FL...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT TONIGHT AND SATURDAY GMZ655-675.ALZ051>064-FLZ001>006-MSZ067-075-076-078-079-220400- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 225 PM CST FRI FEB 21 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR INLAND SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI... SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...AND THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE. .DAY ONE...(THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT) SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON. A FEW OF THESE WILL PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN AND SOME PONDING OF WATER ON AREA ROADS. AN UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM AND SURFACE LOW PRESSURE CENTER WILL MOVE NORTHEAST ACROSS MISSISSIPPI TONIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY THIS EVENING OVER INLAND SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI. THE LINE OF STORMS WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHWEST ALABAMA BETWEEN 9 PM AND MIDNIGHT AND INTO THE WEST FLORIDA PANHANDLE AND ALABAMA COUNTIES TO THE NORTH BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND 3 AM. THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS...LARGE HAIL AND ISOLATED TORNADOES. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT TONIGHT FOR INLAND SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND THE ALABAMA COUNTIES...GENERALLY TO THE WEST OF INTERSTATE 65...INCLUDING BALDWIN COUNTY. AN ADDITIONAL 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN POSSIBLE OVER THE WATCH AREA TONIGHT ON TOP OF THE 1 TO 2 INCHES THAT FELL TODAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...(SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY) SOME SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE ONGOING AT SUNRISE SATURDAY MORNING OVER THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE AND EXTREME SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA. THE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL...STORM SPOTTERS AND HAM RADIO OPERATORS WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT.
The Mobile radar (KMOB), 112 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:37 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A weak tornado blew down several trees near Barnett Crossroads which is near exit 69 on I-65. No injuries were reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alabama in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Alabama, 2003Warnings in Alabama, February 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: 5343209.