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, 1:20 PM CST, 4 hours 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 220 PM CDT THU MAY 08 2003 WEAK UPPER RIDGE WILL BUILD ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT THROUGH EARLY SATURDAY. MODEL SOUNDINGS SHOW A CAP DEVELOPING AND REMAINING IN PLACE TONIGHT AND FRIDAY...THEN GRADUALLY ERODING ON SATURDAY. WILL GO WITH A DRY FORECAST TONIGHT...FRIDAY AND SATURDAY WITH BEST MOISTURE FEED REMAINING TO OUR WEST. NEXT SYSTEM BEGINS TO APPROACH THE AREA FROM THE NORTHWEST SATURDAY NIGHT AND THEN MOVES ACROSS ON SUNDAY. WILL SHOW MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES AND SMALL POPS FOR SATURDAY NIGHT ACROSS THE NORTH...THEN SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ALL SECTIONS ON SUNDAY. LOOKING INTO THE NEXT WORK WEEK...MOIST SOUTHWEST FLOW WILL GRADUALLY INCREASE ACROSS THE AREA ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY WITH A CHANCE OF SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS WEDNESDAY AND THURSDAY. BHM 70/88/70/90/70 00002 MGM 70/91/70/91/70 0000- .BHM...NONE.
ALZ011>015-017>050-082030- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 130 PM CDT THU MAY 8 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE (THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT)... WIDESPREAD...SIGNIFICANT RIVER FLOODING IS EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA. SEE FLOOD STATEMENTS FOR EXACT CREST LEVELS AND LOCATIONS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN (THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY)... A FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA SUNDAY. SCATTERED STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL WILL NOT BE NECESSARY.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The Coosa River at Gadsden was above the flood stage of 511 feet during this period. A crest of 511.38 feet occurred at 10 am, May 8.
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: 5360836.