1 hail, 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 2, 1:11 PM CST, 1 hour 18 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 211 PM CDT FRI MAY 02 2003 SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EVENING HOURS. THE AIRMASS WAS BECOMING INCREASINGLY UNSTABLE WITH EARLY AFTERNOON LIS FROM -8 TO -10 OVER MUCH OF THE AREA. A SERIES OF WEAK SHORT WAVES LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING, ALONG WITH OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES, SHOULD HELP TO ENHANCE CONVECTION. A FEW STORMS COULD BE SEVERE, PRODUCING STRONG MICROBURSTS AND LARGE HAIL. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH SHOULD CONTINUE FOR PARTS OF THE FORECAST AREA INTO THE EVENING. A COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE STATE SATURDAY AND PROVIDE SOME BRIEF DRYING. IT SHOULD STALL, THEN MOVE BACK NORTH SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY. I THINK THE CHANCE FOR SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY WILL BE LESS BECAUSE OF THE DRYING, BUT I WILL KEEP AT LEAST A SMALL POP BECAUSE OF THE BOUNDARY. AVN MOS TEMPERATURE GUIDANCE LOOKS PRETTY GOOD AND IS EXCEPTED WITH ONLY MINOR CHANGES. BHM 062/082 058/083 065 32-234 MGM 063/086 060/086 065 33-122 .BHM...NONE.
ALZ011>015-017>050-022100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 1243 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE (THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT)... SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ONCE AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT. SOME OF THESE WILL LIKELY BECOME SEVERE...WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL BEING THE PRIMARY THREATS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN (SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY)... ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED OVER THE WEEKEND DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS AS THE FRONT BECOMES STATIONARY ACROSS ALABAMA. THE BEGINNING OF THE WORK WEEK DOES NOT SHOW MUCH PROMISE EITHER AS A SERIES OF UPPER-LEVEL DISTURBANCES MOVES OVER US ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY. THESE DISTURBANCES WILL BRING BETTER SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM CHANCES...WITH THE BEST CHANCE FOR ANY STRONG STORMS BEING ON TUESDAY. NO OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... EVEN THOUGH EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING AFTERNOON AND EVENING CONDITIONS...ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL WILL LIKELY NOT BE REQUIRED THROUGH TONIGHT.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
327 PM CDT FRI MAY 02 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0228 PM DETROIT AL 1.75 IN HAIL
05/02/03 LAMAR AUTOS DAMAGED.
STORM
SPOTTER AND PUBLIC
0252 PM FAYETTE AL 0.75 IN HAIL
05/02/03 FAYETTE N OF FAYETTE ON SR
171.
STATE TROOPERS
0258 PM 2 N SUMMIT AL 1.00 IN HAIL
05/02/03 BLOUNT NEAR BLOUNT/MARSHALL CNTY
LINE NEAR US 231 EMA
0310 PM STUDDARDS CROSSING AL 0.75 IN HAIL
05/02/03 FAYETTE PUBLICThe Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 89 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:27 UTC.
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Hail up to the size of softballs fell across western and southern Cherokee County. Many locations reported the hail was covering the ground. Most of the hail fell across rural areas.
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: 5362351.