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 9, 1:51 AM CST, 6 hours 39 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM, AL 251 AM CDT FRI MAY 09 2003 ALABAMA WAS CONVECTION FREE YESTERDAY AS DRIER MID LEVEL AIR ORIGINATING FROM GULF OF MEXICO RIDGE WAS DRAWN NORTHWARD. UPPER RIDGE WILL KEEP MOIST CONVEYOR BELT NORTH OF ALABAMA THROUGH SATURDAY. LOW LEVELS WILL REMAIN STICKY THOUGH AS SOUTHERLY FLOW KEEPS 70+ DEWPOINTS IN AREA. SOME STRATUS HAS DEVELOPED OVER SOUTH AND CENTRAL ALABAMA AND IT IS STREAMING NORTHWARD. I WILL PROBABLY HAVE TO INCLUDE MORNING CLOUDINESS...BUT STRATUS SHOULD BURN OFF BY LATE MORNING. GFS HAS SHOWN GOOD RUN TO RUN CONSISTENCY WITH NEXT SHORT WAVE TROF TO AFFECT ALABAMA. IT IS A LITTLE FASTER WITH EACH RUN...AND SMALL POPS NORTHERN COUNTIES LOOK ON TRACK. DEEP CLOSED UPPER LOW WILL MOVE INTO GREAT LAKES REGION SATURDAY NIGHT AND TAIL END OF VORT AXIS WILL TRACK ACROSS LOWER MISSISSIPPI VALLEY LATE SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY. GFS SHOWS LESS PCPN WITH THIS SYSTEM AS IT ENCOUNTERS STABLE GULF RIDGE...AND ACCORDINGLY POPS WILL SMALLER SUNDAY OVER SOUTHERN COUNTIES. UPPER TROF AXIS WILL STALL OUT ALONG COAST SUNDAY NIGHT...WITH DRIER MID LEVEL AIR BEHIND AXIS. I WILL CONTINUE CURRENT FORECAST WITH NO POPS MONDAY...AND BETTER CHANCES BY MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. BHM 89 72 90 72 84/ 5 0 5 20 40 MGM 91 72 91 72 86/ 0 0 0 5 30 .BHM...NONE. ROSE/58
ALZ011>015-017>050-091330- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BIRMINGHAM AL 737 AM CDT FRI MAY 9 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE COUNTIES SERVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN BIRMINGHAM. .DAY ONE (TODAY AND TONIGHT)... WIDESPREAD...SIGNIFICANT RIVER FLOODING IS EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF THE AREA. SEE FLOOD WARNINGS AND STATEMENTS FOR EXACT CREST LEVELS AND LOCATIONS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN (SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY)... A FRONT WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA SUNDAY. AT THIS TIME...A FEW THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE STRONG BUT THE CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LOOKS LESS LIKELY. .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 Tallapoosa River at the Tallapoosa Water Plant was above the flood stage of 25 feet during this period. A crest of 33.66 feet occurred at 8 pm CDT, May 11.
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: 5360846.