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 8, 2:10 AM CST, 3 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 310 AM CDT THU MAY 8 2003 BAND OF TSTMS ALONG TAIL END OF SHORT WAVE TROF IS SLOWLY LIFTING NORTHWARD IN RESPONSE TO BACKING UPPER FLOW OVER WESTERN GULF COAST STATES. SIGNIFICANT FLOOD EVENT OCCURRING IN AREAS FROM BIRMINGHAM EASTWARD TO THE GEORGIA STATE LINE. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 2 INCHES STILL POSSIBLE FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS AND FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS WILL CONTINUE FOR THESE AREAS. MESO-ETA HAS BEST HANDLE ON CONVECTION DEVELOPING OVER EASTERN OKLAHOMA. MESO-ETA TAKES DEVELOPING MCS EASTWARD INTO NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI AND WESTERN TENNESSEE BY LATE MORNING AND THEN INTO TENNESSEE VALLEY OF NORTH ALABAMA DURING THE AFTERNOON. BASED ON THIS TRACK...SPC PROBABLY HAS THE SLIGHT RISK AREA A LITTLE TO FAR NORTH. I WILL MENTION THE POSSIBILITY OF SEVERE FOR OUR NORTHERN FRINGE COUNTIES. ONCE AGAIN... SOUTHERN HALF OF FORECAST AREA WILL BE LEFT HIGH AND DRY TODAY DUE TO GULF OF MEXICO UPPER RIDGE. EXPANDING RIDGE WILL CAP CONVECTION ACROSS REMAINDER OF ALABAMA FRIDAY AND SATURDAY. GFS STILL ADVERTISING A WEAK SURFACE FRONT TO MOVE INTO ALABAMA ON SUNDAY. FRONT STALLS OUT ALONG COASTAL AREAS AND SIGNIFICANT MID LEVEL DRY SLOT MOVES OVER ALABAMA BY MONDAY MORNING. MAIN CHANGE TO FORECAST WILL BE TO LOWER POPS ON MONDAY. DEEPER MOISTURE SHOULD SPREAD BACK INTO AREA FOR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. BHM 86 72 89 71 89/ 30 5 10 5 10 MGM 91 72 91 71 91/ 10 5 10 5 5 .BHM...NONE.
ALZ011>015-017>050-072045- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 151 PM CDT WED MAY 07 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE (THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT)... SEVERE WEATHER SHOULD LAST INTO THE EVENING HOURS WITH LONG LIVED TORNADIC SUPERCELLS MARCHING ACROSS CENTRAL ALABAMA. DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE ALSO THREATS...ALONG WITH POSSIBLE FLASH FLOODING. .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 HAVE BEEN ACTIVATED.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
122 AM CDT THU MAY 08 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0100 AM COUNTY WIDE AL FLASH FLOOD
05/08/03 CLAY FLOODING HAS CLOSED
SEVERAL ROADS ACROSS THE
COUNTY. AREA CREEKS AND
STREAMS ARE STILL RUNNING
OUT OF THEIR BANKS.
0100 AM COUNTY WIDE AL FLASH FLOOD
05/08/03 CALHOUN SEVERAL AREA CREEKS AND
STREAMS ARE OUT OF THEIR
BANKS AND SEVERAL ROADS
ARE CLOSED.
0100 AM COUNTY WIDE AL FLASH FLOOD
05/08/03 RANDOLPH SEVERAL ROADS HAVE BECOME
IMPASSABLE DUE TO HIGH
WATER AND ARE NOW CLOSED.
AREA CREEKS AND STREAMS
ARE RUNNING NEAR BANKFULL
IF NOT OVER.
0100 AM COUNTY WIDE AL FLASH FLOOD
05/08/03 JEFFERSON SEVERAL ROADS REMAIN
FLOODED AND WILL NOT
RE-OPEN ANY TIME SOON.
SEVERAL AREA CREEKS AND
STREAMS REMAIN AT
BANKFULL.PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL
153 AM CDT THU MAY 08 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0150 AM COUNTY WIDE AL FLASH FLOOD
05/08/03 ST. CLAIR SEVERAL ROADS REMAIN
CLOSED ACROSS THE COUNTY
DUE TO HIGH WATER. AREA
CREEKS AND STREAMS REMAIN
NEAR BANKFULL.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 131.95 feet on May 9 at 1 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: 5360767.