1 thunderstorm wind, 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 Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 16, 8:52 AM CST, 4 hours 18 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 952 AM CDT FRI MAY 16 2003 DENSE FOG ADVISORY OVER SE AREAS WILL BE ALLOWED TO EXPIRE AT 10 AM. LOW CLOUDS STILL BLANKETED MUCH OF THE AREA AS OF 930 AM...ALTHOUGH A FEW BREAKS WERE DETECTED...MAINLY OVER WESTERN AREAS BY SATELLITE. VISIBILITIES HAVE RISEN NICELY AS WELL. REST OF FORECAST LOOKS GOOD FOR NOW. PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION TO LARGE COMPLEX OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER MID MISSISSIPPI VALLEY. MOST OF THIS COMPLEX SHOULD STAY NORTH OF AREA...BUT MAY HAVE TO LOOK OUT FOR SOME STRONG STORMS DEVELOPING OVER NORTHERN PARTS OF AREA THIS AFTERNOON. .BHM...DENSE FOG ADVISORY ZONES 41>50 UNTIL 10 AM. MBS/91
ALZ011>015-017>050-162000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 123 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE (THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT)... A BROKEN LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE NORTHERN PART OF THE AREA...MAINLY NORTH OF A TUSCALOOSA TO ANNISTON LINE THIS AFTERNOON. DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE POSSIBLE WITH THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS. BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE AS THE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE THROUGH. SOME LOCATIONS THAT RECEIVED TORRENTIAL RAINFALL LAST WEEK MAY SEE CONDITIONS AGGRAVATED BY THIS ADDITIONAL RAINFALL. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN (SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY)... STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL ARE POSSIBLE ON SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM MOVES ACROSS THE AREA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL WILL BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING FOR AREAS NORTH OF A TUSCALOOSA TO ANNISTON LINE. THEY MAY BE REQUIRED ACROSS THE ENTIRE AREA SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A few trees were blown down in Natural Bridge.
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: 5361394.