1 heavy rain, 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 Phoenix, AZ wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 26, 2:55 PM MST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.
AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-270545- SOUTHWEST ARIZONA/SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 255 PM MST WED FEB 26 2003 .SYNOPSIS... A SERIES OF LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM FROM THE GULF OF ALASKA WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES THE REST OF THE WEEK AND THIS WEEKEND. THIS MEANS UNSETTLED WEATHER AND THE POSSIBILITY OF SHOWERS THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT...AND AGAIN SATURDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH SUNDAY. PATCHY FOG IS EXPECTED LATE TONIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING. .DISCUSSION... THE MAIN LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM THAT HAS BROUGHT SHOWERY WEATHER TO MUCH OF ARIZONA OVER THE PAST COUPLE DAYS IS CURRENTLY SPINNING OVER EASTERN ARIZONA...AND WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE EASTWARD OVERNIGHT. HOWEVER...COOLER AIR AT ALL LEVELS...COUPLED WITH A SECONDARY IMPULSE MOVING THRU THE AREA TODAY...HAS RESULTED IN CONTINUED SHOWERY WEATHER OVER SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA AND EASTWARD...ALONG WITH A FEW ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON. HAVE DECIDED TO KEEP THE MENTION OF PATCHY FOG OVER WESTERN AND CENTRAL ZONES...AS SKIES SHOULD CLEAR LATE TONIGHT AND EARLY THURSDAY. THE NEXT SYSTEM TO AFFECT THE AREA LOOKS ON TRACK FOR THURSDAY/THURSDAY NIGHT (YET THIS SYSTEM WILL TAKE A TRACK MAINLY THROUGH NORTHERN ARIZONA)...WITH THE CENTER AROUND KLAS BY 18Z FOR CHANCE OF PRECIP OVER MUCH OF THE STATE. THE TROUGH AXIS SHOULD BE ORIENTED ALONG THE ARIZONA/NEW MEXICO BORDER LATE THURSDAY NIGHT...WITH REDEVELOPING SHOWERS POSSIBLE OVER THE HIGHER TERRAIN EAST OF PHOENIX FRIDAY AS SUFFICIENT MOISTURE REMAINS IN PLACE. THE NEXT WEATHER SYSTEM... PROGED TO MOVE THROUGH THE AREA SATURDAY INTO SUNDAY...LOOKS TO BE MORE OF AN ISSUE THAN PREVIOUSLY ADVERTISED...AND HAVE THUS ADDED A SLIGHT CHANCE OVER THE WESTERN CWA AND INCREASED THE POPS ELSEWHERE. OVERALL...IT LOOKS LIKE THIS WEEKENDS SYSTEM WILL BE MORE OF A SATURDAY NIGHT/SUNDAY RAIN MAKER...AS OPPOSED TO THE PREVIOUS THOUGHT OF SATURDAY ONLY. WILL KEEP POPS IN THE FCST FOR SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA EASTWARD SUNDAY...AND TAPERING OFF AS THE DAY WEARS ON. AS FOR THE EXTENDED...THERE IS SOME DISAGREEMENT AMONG THE MEDIUM RANGE MODELS ON WHAT WILL (OR WONT) HAPPEN EARLY NEXT WEEK. THE ECMWF HAS SHORTWAVE RIDING OVER THE SW US MONDAY WHILE THE MRF INDICATES YET ANOTHER WEATHER SYSTEM MOVING THROUGH THE AREA. AT THIS TIME...WE FEEL THE MRF IS THE WAY TO GO WITH GENERALLY TROUGHINESS OVER THE WESTERN STATES. I HAVE A FEELING THAT THE LAND TRAJECTORY THE MRF IS DEPICTING WILL ONCE AGAIN CHANGE (AS IT DID WITH THIS WEEKENDS SYSTEM) TO A MORE WET SOLUTION...BRINGING THE LOW FURTHER SOUTHWEST BEFORE MOVING IT THROUGH THE AREA. FOR NOW...WILL GO WITH PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES MONDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...AND WAIT ANOTHER RUN OR SO TO DECIDE ON WHAT TO DO WITH THE POPS. .PSR...NONE. LW
AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-270100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 600 AM MST WED FEB 26 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA...AND SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY PATCHY FOG WITH REDUCED VISIBILITY IS EXPECTED LATE TONIGHT AND THURSDAY MORNING.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
The second major winter storm of February dropped between one and 2 inches of rain during a two-day period. Minor street flooding and small hail, about pea size, accompanied the storm.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arizona in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Arizona, February 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: 5342542.