1 funnel cloud, 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 7, 8:39 AM CST, 3 hours 53 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 939 AM CDT WED MAY 07 2003 STORMS MOVING INTO THE WESTERN SECTIONS OF THE AREA. CURRENT FORECAST WILL BE ADJUSTED SLIGHTLY. BUSY DAY AHEAD. .BHM...NONE.
ALZ011>015-017>050-071400- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 728 AM CDT WED MAY 7 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE (TODAY AND TONIGHT)... ALABAMA WILL REMAIN IN A WARM AND UNSTABLE AIR MASS TODAY...AND WILL CONTINUE TO SEE THE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ALREADY MOVED INTO MISSISSIPPI...AND THESE ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE EASTWARD INTO ALABAMA LATER THIS MORNING. AFTER THEY MOVE IN...THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL LAST INTO THE AFTERNOON HOURS. DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE THE PRIMARY THREATS...WHILE ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE ALSO POSSIBLE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN (THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY)... AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL GRADUALLY BUILD IN FROM THE SOUTH OVER THE REST OF THE WEEK. THIS WILL MOVE THE AREA OF POTENTIAL SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS NORTHWARD OUT OF ALABAMA FOR THE END OF THE WEEK. ALTHOUGH THERE WILL BE A SMALL CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY...AT THIS TIME NO WIDESPREAD OR ORGANIZED AREAS OF SEVERE STORMS AREA EXPECTED ON THOSE DAYS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL AND STORM SPOTTERS SHOULD PREPARE FOR ACTIVATION LATER THIS MORNING.
The Birmingham radar (KBMX), 44 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:31 UTC.
1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
A funnel cloud was reported over Pinson. Several other funnel clouds were reported across Jefferson 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: 5360584.