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 22, 2:15 AM CST, 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 315 AM CDT THU MAY 22 2003 SHORT TERM RAIN CHANCES THROUGH FRIDAY ARE THE PRIMARY FORECAST CHALLENGE. PERSISTENT WET PATTERN CONTINUED OVERNIGHT ACROSS ALABAMA WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS OVER THE AREA. THE ATMOSPHERE WAS SATURATED WITH PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES AROUND 1.8 INCHES. SURFACE TROUGH EXTENDED NORTH TO SOUTH THROUGH THE STATE. A SHORT WAVE WAS APPROACHING THE AREA FROM THE NORTHWEST. FIRST PROBLEM IS WHAT TO DO WITH CURRENT FLASH FLOOD WATCH OVER MUCH OF THE AREA. LOW PRESSURE IS FORECAST TO DEVELOP OVER THE SOUTHERN PART OF THE STATE TODAY...WHICH SEEMS REASONABLE FROM CURRENT SURFACE PRESSURE FALLS OVER THE AREA. THE SHORT WAVE JUST TO THE WEST OF THE AREA WILL MOVE EAST...THROUGH THE AREA TODAY FROM NW TO SE... DRYING OUT THE MID AND HIGH LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE. HIGHEST MOISTURE...INSTABILITY...AND LIFT WILL OCCUR OVER FAR SE PARTS OF THE AREA TODAY...WHERE FLASH FLOOD GUIDANCE IS HIGHEST. SO WILL TIER POPS FROM 20 NW TO 80 SE AND LET FLASH FLOOD WATCH EXPIRE...BUT WILL MENTION HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE FAR SE NEAR THE DEVELOPING SURFACE LOW. TONIGHT...WILL KEEP CHANCE OF SHOWERS EAST...CLOSER TO DEPARTING SURFACE LOW. SKIES SHOULD REMAIN MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH PLENTY OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE AROUND. FRIDAY APPEARS TO BE DRY OVER ALL BUT THE NE AREAS...AND THE SUN SHOULD RE-EMERGE AS DRIER AIR WORKS INTO THE AREA THANKS TO A GOOD NORTHERLY FLOW. WILL KEEP CHANCE OF SHOWERS FROM ANNISTON AND POINTS EAST AS GOOD EASTERLY LOW LEVEL FLOW IS FORECAST THERE FROM THE DEPARTING LOW...KEEPING CLOUDS AND SHOWERS LINGERING AROUND. BEYOND FRIDAY...MADE FEW CHANGES TO ONGOING FORECAST. A UPPER LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE ACROSS THE NORTHERN PART OF THE NATION... BRINGING A NW CYCLONIC FLOW TO THE AREA. WILL KEEP CHANCE OF PRECIP ON MEMORIAL DAY AS A LOBE FROM THE UPPER LOW IS FORECAST TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA. LOWERED TEMPS SLIGHTLY WITH COOLER MID AND UPPER LEVEL TEMPS FORECAST. BHM 072/060 078/058 079 4--0- MGM 076/063 082/061 084 63100 .BHM...NONE. MBS/91
ALZ011>015-017>050-212045- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 140 PM CDT WED MAY 21 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 SLOW MOVING FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL SPREAD SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE AREA TODAY AND TONIGHT. ALTHOUGH CONDITIONS ARE NOT FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...THERE WILL BE A THREAT OF LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL THAT MAY CAUSE FLOODING. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT FOR MUCH OF CENTRAL ALABAMA. ROUGHLY FROM HAMILTON TO CENTRE...AND SOUTH FROM LIVINGSTON...TO HAYNEVILLE...TO PRATTVILLE...AND EAST TO LAFAYETTE. RIVER FLOODING ALSO CONTINUES ACROSS THE AREA. SEE SPECIFIC FLOOD WARNINGS AND STATEMENTS FOR DETAILED INFORMATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN (THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY)... SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAY LINGER INTO THURSDAY MORNING ACROSS EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA. RAINFALL SHOULD BE ENDING FROM WEST TO EAST THROUGH THE DAY THURSDAY. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL THAT WILL FALL ON WEDNESDAY IS LIKELY TO AGGRAVATE RIVERS ACROSS THE AREA. ANY CURRENT FLOODING MAY BE PROLONGED...AND ADDITIONAL FLOODING IS POSSIBLE INTO THE WEEKEND. NO OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF SEVERE STORM SPOTTERS SHOULD NOT BE NECESSARY. ACTIVATION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL MAY BE NEEDED TONIGHT...DUE TO POTENTIAL FLOODING CONCERNS.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The Alabama River at Montgomery was above flood stage of 35 feet during this time period. The highest crest reported was 36.24 feet on May 23 at 10 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: 5360772.