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 20, 2:11 AM CST, 5 hours 49 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 305 AM CDT MON MAY 19 2003 CDFNT TO OUR WEST THIS MRNG CURRENTLY EXTENDING FROM SERN MO INTO CNTRL TX WITH SFC WEDGE FROM CAROLINAS W INTO NE AL. AIR MASS REMAINS VERY MOIST ACRS CWA BUT RATHER STABLE AT THIS TIME. MODELS IN AGREEMENT THAT CDFNT SHUD PUSH INTO NW AL BY 00Z. EXPECT MAINLY SCATTERED ACTIVITY ACROSS AREA TODAY...BUT WILL KEEP POPS LIKELY NW ZONES DUE TO APPROACH OF CDFNT BY LATE AFTERNOON. AS CDFNT MOVES INTO AREA TONIGHT...MARGINAL INSTABILITY...HIGH PW VALUES...AND LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE SHOULD COMBINE TO TRIGGER NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS NEAR THE FRONT. EVEN THOUGH FFG VALUES HAVE INCREASED SOME THE PAST COUPLE OF DAYS...THEY STILL REMAIN FAIRLY LOW AND SITUATION WILL NEED TO BE MONITORED FOR POSSIBLE FFA FOR TONIGHT. WILL MENTION LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL FOR TONIGHT AND WILL ALSO HIGHLIGHT IN HWO. . CDFNT SLOWS AS IT MOVES INTO AREA TONIGHT AND SFC WAVE WILL DEVELOP ALONG IT AND MOVE SLOWY E ON WED. THIS WILL KEEP SHOWERS AND TSTMS ACRS THE AREA THROUGH WED...AND PROBABLY INTO WED NIGHT...ESPCLY IN SERN SECTIONS. BY THURSDAY MRNG LOW SHOULD FINALLY BE MOVING INTO SRN GA WITH DCRSG CLDS SERN SECTIONS. DRIER CONDITIONS SHOULD PREVAIL AFTER THAT TIME THROUGH THE HOLIDAY WEEKEND. BHM 075/063 074/058 078 5752 MGM 080/067 076/063 080 4775 .BHM...NONE.
ALZ011>015-017>050-201430- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 726 AM CDT TUE MAY 20 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE (TODAY AND TONIGHT)... WARM...MOIST...AND UNSTABLE AIR WILL RETURN TO FORECAST AREA TODAY AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL REDEVELOP ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA...AND WITH A LACK OF STRONG UPPER LEVEL DYNAMICS...SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT LIKELY. HOWEVER...WITH THE ABUNDANT MOISTURE AVAILABLE...SOME SHOWERS OR STORMS COULD PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BECOME MORE NUMEROUS OVERNIGHT TONIGHT...WHICH COULD RESULT IN LOCALIZED FLOODING. IF THE SYSTEM HOLDS TOGETHER AS FORECAST...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MAY BE REQUIRED FOR AT LEAST A PORTION OF THE FORECAST AREA TONIGHT. RIVER FLOODING ALSO CONTINUES ACROSS THE AREA. SEE SPECIFIC RIVER FLOOD WARNINGS AND STATEMENTS FOR DETAILED INFORMATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN (WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY)... RIVER FLOODING WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MIDWEEK...THEN GRADUALLY DIMINISH THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. NO OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL AND STORM SPOTTERS SHOULD NOT BE NECESSARY TODAY OR TONIGHT.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The Tombigbee River at the Bevill Lock and Dam was above flood stage of 122 feet during this period of time. The maximum crest was 124.36 feet at noon CDT on May 21.
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: 5360701.