1 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 Birmingham, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 18, 8:05 PM CST, 2 hours 55 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 905 PM CDT SUN MAY 18 2003 UPDATED ZONES TO LOWER POPS IN EASTERN ZONES, BUT HAVE KEPT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ALL ZONES REMAINDER OF TONIGHT. I ALSO KEPT FLOOD WATCH FOR REMAINDER OF TONIGHT. THE AREAL COVERAGE OF RAIN HAS DECREASED THIS EVENING, BUT WITH AN UPPER LOW SPINNING ON OUR WESTERN BORDER, AND THE GROUND SATURATED, THE POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING WILL CONTINUE. THE LATEST RUC ALSO SHOWS SUBSTANTIAL RAIN OVER THE AREA OVERNIGHT. .BHM...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT AL ZONES 11>15-17>45-47
ALZ011>015-017>050-190300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 858 PM CDT SUN MAY 18 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE (TONIGHT)... A FLOOD WATCH WILL CONTINUE OVERNIGHT. REDEVELOPMENT OF SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WILL REMAIN POSSIBLE FOR THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. THESE SHOWERS WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO DROP HEAVY RAIN IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME...POSSIBLY AGGRAVATING THE ALREADY SATURATED CONDITIONS EXPERIENCED IN MANY SPOTS ACROSS THE AREA. BE PREPARED TO TAKE QUICK ACTION IF A WARNING BECOMES NECESSARY. MAINSTEM RIVER FLOODING ALSO CONTINUES ACROSS THE AREA. MINOR TO MODERATE FLOODING WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN (MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY)... RIVER FLOODING WILL OCCUR ACROSS PARTS OF CENTRAL ALABAMA THROUGH MIDWEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD MONITOR THE LATEST WEATHER CONDITIONS AND BE READY FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The Black Warrior River at the Oliver Lock and Dam was above flood stage of 129 feet during this time period. The highest crest reported was 129.16 feet on May 19 at 3 am CDT.
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: 5360768.