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 May 14, 2:02 AM CST, 4 hours 28 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 302 AM CDT WED MAY 14 2003 THE FORECAST CONTINUES TO BE A CHALLENGE AND VERY UNSETTLED... ESPECIALLY FOR THE SHORT TERM PERIODS. THE FIRST MCS THAT HAS BEEN ADVERTISED FOR THE LAST SEVERAL DAYS DID DEVELOP BUT MOVED FURTHER SOUTH THAN LAST NIGHTS RUNS THOUGHT /SIMILAR TO THE GFS RUN FROM 00Z ON MONDAY...BUT EVEN MORE SOUTH THAN THAT/. THE NEXT MCS IS OVER SOUTHERN TENNESSEE AND NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI...AND BECOMING MORE ACTIVE ON THE RADAR. THE MODELS DIFFER GREATLY HERE...ESPECIALLY AT 500 MB. THE GFS IS MORE NORTH IN ITS PLACEMENT THAN THE ETA. NOT SURE WHAT TO BELIEVE. THE GFS INITIALIZED SLIGHTLY BETTER SO WILL LEAN MORE TOWARD THAT WITH SOME HEDGING. WILL KEEP LIKELY POPS FOR THE NORTH TODAY...BUT THE DAY SHIFT MAY HAVE TO ADJUST IF THINGS DON/T PAN OUT. IN THE SAME RESPECT WILL GO ON THE COOL SIDE FOR TEMPS...ONCE AGAIN...IF THE SITUATION IS DIFFERENT AND THE SYSTEM DOES NOT MOVE THROUGH CENTRAL ALABAMA THIS WILL BE WRONG AND WILL NEED TO BE ADJUSTED. WILL ALSO MENTION POSSIBLE SEVERE STORMS AS THE WHOLE AREA IS OUT-LOOKED TODAY. FOR TONIGHT AND THURSDAY...ANOTHER MCS IS FORECAST FOR THIS TIME PERIOD. WILL KEEP THE LIKELY POPS FOR THIS TIME. THE LATEST RUN MOVES EVERYTHING THROUGH MAINLY DURING THE OVERNIGHT PERIOD. GUIDANCE POPS FOR THURSDAY ARE 20% AND LESS. CANNOT BE THAT OPTIMISTIC. FEEL THAT PLENTY OF BOUNDARIES WILL BE AROUND AND SOMETHING WILL DEVELOP...PLACEMENT IS THE ISSUE. WILL GO WITH CHANCE POPS FOR DAY PERIOD. WILL ALSO GO WITH ON THE LOWER END FOR TEMPS HERE. THURSDAY NIGHT...STILL FEEL A BREAK MAY OCCUR HERE. WILL DROP POPS BACK TO THE SLIGHT CHANCE CATEGORY. FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...A LOW AND FRONT MOVES OUT OF NORTH TEXAS AND MOVES NORTHEAST THROUGH THIS TIME FRAME. BEST CHANCE FOR RAIN CONTINUES TO BE SUNDAY WHEN THE FRONT AND LOW ARE FORECAST TO BE CLOSEST TO THE AREA. WILL KEEP EITHER SCATTERED OR ISOLATED WORDING THROUGH THIS PERIOD. THIS IS A LONG WAY AWAY...AND EXPECT SOME CHANGES. PRELIMINARY NUMBERS FOR COORDINATION PURPOSES ONLY BHM 075/063 080/062 083 77423 MGM 078/064 082/065 086 57423 .BHM...NONE. 80
ALZ011>015-017>050-141500- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 717 AM CDT WED MAY 14 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE (TODAY AND TONIGHT)... ANOTHER IN A SERIES OF CONVECTIVE COMPLEXES WILL MOVE INTO AND ACROSS THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. WITH NUMEROUS BOUNDARIES ACROSS THE AREA AND SOME UPPER SUPPORT MOVING IN...THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS PLACED THE ENTIRE AREA UNDER A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE STORMS. THE PRIME TIME FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE FROM 1 PM UNTIL AROUND 8 PM. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN (THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY)... STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVY RAINFALL ARE POSSIBLE ON THURSDAY AS A FEW UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES MOVE ACROSS THE REGION. A FEW STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MAY OCCUR AGAIN OVER THE WEEKEND. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL MAY BE REQUIRED THROUGH TONIGHT.
ALZ012-141100- THUNDERSTORM ADVISORY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 513 AM CDT WED MAY 14 2003 .A THUNDERSTORM ADVISORY IN EFFECT FOR LAMAR COUNTY UNTIL 600 AM CDT... .SMALL HAIL AND FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKES ARE S POSSIBLE FROM AN APPROACHING THUNDERSTORM. AT 509 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF SULLIGENT...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH. THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT AREAS IN AND NEAR SULLIGENT...MOLLOY AND VERNON THROUGH 600 AM CDT. THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THESE STORMS IS SMALL HAIL. HAIL UP TO ONE HALF INCH IN DIAMETER...IS POSSIBLE. IN ADDITION...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKES ARE POSSIBLE. IF YOU ARE OUTDOORS IN THE VICINITY OF THESE STORMS...TAKE SHELTER NOW. LAT...LON 3396 8836 3367 8821 3358 8803 3402 8802
ALZ013-141200- THUNDERSTORM ADVISORY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 557 AM CDT WED MAY 14 2003 .A THUNDERSTORM ADVISORY IN EFFECT FOR FAYETTE COUNTY UNTIL 700 AM CDT... .SMALL HAIL AND FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKES ARE POSSIBLE FROM AN APPROACHING THUNDERSTORM. AT 554 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WAYSIDE...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH. THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT AREAS IN AND NEAR WAYSIDE...FAYETTE AND BERRY THROUGH 700 AM CDT. THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THESE STORMS IS SMALL HAIL. HAIL UP TO ONE HALF INCH IN DIAMETER...IS POSSIBLE. IN ADDITION...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING STIRKES ARE POSSIBLE. IF YOU ARE OUTDOORS IN THE VICINITY OF THESE STORMS...TAKE SHELTER NOW. LAT...LON 3391 8793 3373 8794 3361 8766 3377 8757
ALZ023-141230- THUNDERSTORM ADVISORY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 645 AM CDT WED MAY 14 2003 .A THUNDERSTORM ADVISORY IN EFFECT FOR TUSCALOOSA COUNTY UNTIL 730 AM CDT... .SMALL HAIL AND FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKES ARE POSSIBLE FROM AN APPROACHING THUNDERSTORM. AT 640 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM 11 MILES WEST OF SAMANTHA...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH. THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT AREAS IN AND NEAR SAMANTHA... TUSCALOOSA...NORTHPORT AND HOLT THROUGH 730 AM CDT. THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THESE STORMS IS SMALL HAIL. HAIL UP TO ONE HALF INCH IN DIAMETER...IS POSSIBLE. IF YOU ARE OUTDOORS IN THE VICINITY OF THESE STORMS...TAKE SHELTER NOW. LAT...LON 3345 8789 3331 8776 3305 8735 3352 8733
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 71 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 12:31 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A home was struck by lightning on the corner of 26th Street and 12th Avenue. The home suffered extensive damage. The thunderstorms also knocked several limbs out of trees and caused minor power outages.
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: 5360709.