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 Huntsville, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 11, 12:27 AM CST, 3 hours 3 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 127 AM CDT SUN MAY 11 2003 1ST PERIOD FCST PROBLEM...TIMING OF COLD FRONT AND THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE WX. COLD FRONT ENTERING WRN TENNESSEE AT 06Z WITH NARROW BAND OF TSRA ACROSS THIS AREA. MEM WAS REPORTING MAINLY WIND DAMAGE AND HEAVY RAIN WITH THESE STORMS. OTHERWISE TEMPS OVER NRN ALABAMA WERE IN THE UPPER 70S WITH DEWPOINTS AROUND 70. VAD WINDS FROM COLUMBUS MS RADAR SHOWS 40/50 KNOTS AROUND 3000 FT WITH WEB BULB ZERO FROM BHM SOUNDING OF OVER 11000 FT. THUS LOOKS LIKE WHEN FRONT PUSHES THRU CWA SHOULD MAINLY HAVE DAMAGING WINDS. ALSO HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE BUT AT THE MOMENT THINKING THAT THE SPEED OF THE PCPN AS IT PUSHES THRU OUR CWA...WIDESPREAD FLOODING WILL NOT BE A PROBLEM. WILL PUT MORE DETAILS IN HWO CONCERNING WIND/RAIN THREATS. ETA IS TO FAST WITH PCPN SO WILL GO WITH AVN WHICH IS NOT AS FAST BRINGING THE PCPN INTO CWA. ALL MODELS HAVE THE PCPN OUT OF CWA BY 18Z. WILL LOOK AT MORE DATA...BUT THINKING ABOUT MENTIONING PCPN ENDING EARLY THIS AFTERNOON IN ERN ZONES. SORT OF WORRIED THAT SRN END OF FRONT COULD SLOW DOWN. ATTM COLD FRONT SHOULD PUSH THRU WRN ZONES BY 12Z AND THRU THE ERN ZONES BY 18-19Z. AFTER FRONT PASSES BY THIS AFTERNOON...COOLER DRIER WEATHER FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS. THEN SURFACE LOW OVER SRN PLAINS WILL PUSH FRONT BACK THRU CWA AS A WARM FRONT WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY. AVN HAS SURFACE LOW OVER NRN AL BY THURSDAY. THIS COULD SPELL ANOTHER FLOODING EVENT/HEAVY RAIN ON THURSDAY...STAY TUNED. AS FOR EXTENDED FCST...ONLY TWEAK TEMPS A TAD AND MADE NO OTHER CHANGES. PRELIMINARY NUMBERS FOR COORDINATION PURPOSES ONLY... HSV 078/053 075/050 6100 MSL 077/052 074/049 6-00 .HUN...NONE SHUMWAY
ALZ001>010-016-111000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 925 PM CDT SAT MAY 10 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH ALABAMA. .DAY ONE...(TONIGHT THROUGH MIDDAY SUNDAY)... A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE EASTWARD ACROSS THE MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEY OVERNIGHT...AND APPROACH ALABAMA BY DAYBREAK SUNDAY. JUST AHEAD OF THIS FRONT...A BROKEN LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL PUSH EASTWARD ACROSS NORTHERN ALABAMA DURING THE MORNING HOURS ON SUNDAY. AT THIS TIME...IT APPEARS THAT THE HIGHEST THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE ACROSS NORTHWEST ALABAMA BETWEEN 5 AM AND 10 AM...NORTH CENTRAL ALABAMA BETWEEN 7 AM AND NOON...AND NORTHEAST ALABAMA BETWEEN 9 AM AND 1 PM. A FEW OF THE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME BRIEFLY SEVERE...WITH THE MAIN THREAT BEING ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...(MIDDAY SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY)... THE COLD FRONT WILL PUSH SOUTH AND EAST OF THE REGION BY SUNDAY AFTERNOON. A COOLER AND LESS HUMID AIRMASS WILL BUILD ACROSS THE TENNESSEE VALLEY THROUGH TUESDAY. THE NEXT STORM SYSTEM IS FORECAST TO AFFECT NORTH ALABAMA LATE WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. PRELIMINARY INDICATIONS ARE THAT THIS SYSTEM MAY PRODUCE A PERIOD OF HEAVY RAIN ACROSS NORTHERN ALABAMA. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. JTB
ALZ001>003-111000- SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 330 AM CDT SUN MAY 11 2003 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND HEAVY RAINFALL FOR NORTHWEST ALABAMA... A LINE OF STRONG STORMS WILL ENTER EXTREME NORTHWEST ALABAMA BY 330 AM...AND WILL LIKELY AFFECT THE QUAD CITIES...LITTLEVILLE...RED BAY AND RUSSELVILLE AREAS. THIS LINE WILL CONTAIN FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...HEAVY RAINFALL AND STRONG WINDS AS IT MOVES THROUGH THE REGION. WIDESPREAD RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF UP TO ONE HALF INCH CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH 5 AM...WITH ISOLATED AMOUNTS OF UP TO ONE INCH POSSIBLE THROUGH THIS TIME. THE HEAVY RAINFALL WILL LIKELY AGGRAVATE THE EXISTING FLOODING SITUATION ACROSS THE REGION. IN ADDITION TO HEAVY RAIN...WIND GUSTS TO 45 MPH WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS. MOTORISTS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR WATER COVERED ROADWAYS AND USE CAUTION WHEN TRAVELING ACROSS THE REGION THIS MORNING. PERSONS LIVING ALONG AREA CREEKS AND RIVERS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF RISING WATER AS THE STORMS MOVE ACROSS. BRIDENSTINE
ALZ004-005-007-111100- SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HUNTSVILLE AL 425 AM CDT SUN MAY 11 2003 ...SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ALERT FOR CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND HEAVY RAINFALL FOR NORTHWEST AND NORTH CENTRAL ALABAMA... A LINE OF STRONG STORMS WILL AFFECT NORTH CENTRAL ALABAMA BY 430 AM...AND WILL LIKELY AFFECT THE ELKMONT...ATHENS...MOULTON AND HUNTSVILLE AREAS THROUGH 6 AM. THIS LINE WILL CONTAIN FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...HEAVY RAINFALL AND STRONG WINDS AS IT MOVES THROUGH THE REGION. WIDESPREAD RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF UP TO ONE HALF INCH CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH 6 AM...WITH ISOLATED AMOUNTS OF UP TO ONE INCH POSSIBLE THROUGH THIS TIME. THE HEAVY RAINFALL WILL LIKELY AGGRAVATE THE EXISTING FLOODING SITUATION ACROSS THE REGION. IN ADDITION TO HEAVY RAIN...WIND GUSTS TO 45 MPH WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE WITH THESE STORMS. MOTORISTS SHOULD BE ALERT FOR WATER COVERED ROADWAYS AND USE CAUTION WHEN TRAVELING ACROSS THE REGION THIS MORNING. PERSONS LIVING ALONG AREA CREEKS AND RIVERS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF RISING WATER AS THE STORMS MOVE ACROSS. BRIDENSTINE
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
highway 72 had several inches of water over road.
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, May 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: 5365255.