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 17, 8:45 AM CST, 0 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 945 AM CDT SAT MAY 17 2003 UPDATED ZONES TO REFLECT TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 3 PM. GIANT OUTFLOW BOUNDARY FROM YESTERDAYS ACTIVITY SITS BETWEEN BHM AND HSV. STRONG UPPER LOW CONTINUES TO FILL... BUT ALSO DIG SOUTH. SQUALL LINE CONTINUES TO PUSH FROM MS INTO AL. ENOUGH INSTABILITY AND SHEAR TO GET SUPERCELLS GOING ALONG THE SQUALL LINE. NOT THE BEST SITUATION... BUT ENOUGH INGREDIENTS FOR SEVERE THREAT. MAIN CONCERN WILL BE TORRENTIAL RAIN... LARGE HAIL... ISOLATED TORNADOES... AND CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. WE ARE WATCHING RAINFALL AMOUNTS IN MS... AREA CANNOT TAKE MUCH RAIN BEFORE FLOODING BEGINS. AFTER THE SQUALL LINE... ANOTHER IMPULSE WILL MOVE THROUGH AND WE COULD SEE STORMS FIRE ALONG OLD BOUNDARIES. .BHM...NONE
ALZ011>015-017>050-171430- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 712 AM CDT SAT MAY 17 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE (TODAY AND TONIGHT)... AN UPPER LEVEL LOW WEST OF THE AREA WILL SLOWLY MOVE EASTWARD TODAY AND TONIGHT. A SERIES OF IMPULSES WILL EJECT FROM THIS LOW AND MOVE INTO AND ACROSS THE AREA. THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS PLACED THE ENTIRE AREA UNDER A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN (SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY)... STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ON SUNDAY AS A WEAK FRONT PUSHES INTO THE AREA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL WILL PROBABLY BE REQUIRED TODAY AND TONIGHT.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Trees were blown down near SR 19 in northern Marion County.
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: 5360538.