1 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 27, 2:55 PM MST, 2 hours 55 minutes earlier.
AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-280545- SOUTHWEST ARIZONA/SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 255 PM MST THU FEB 27 2003 .SYNOPSIS... A SERIES OF WEATHER SYSTEMS WILL CONTINUE UNSETTLED WEATHER OVER SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA TONIGHT THROUGH SUNDAY. THE CURRENT WEATHER SYSTEM WILL KEEP SHOWERS AND A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA...WITH THE SNOW LEVEL LOWERING TO 5000 FEET OVERNIGHT. A WEAKER DISTURBANCE WILL BRUSH BY NORTHERN ARIZONA FRIDAY...WITH A STRONGER SYSTEM EXPECTED THIS WEEKEND. HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT IS WILL BRING DRY AND WARMER WEATHER THE FIRST HALF OF NEXT WEEK. .DISCUSSION... THE MEAN TROUGH WITH THE CURRENT WEATHER SYSTEM SHOULD BE CENTERED OVER ARIZONA LATE THIS AFTERNOON...WITH THE MAIN DYNAMICS EXPECTED TO MOVE THROUGH AROUND 00Z. SHOWERS WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON INTO EARLY THIS EVENING STILL LOOK OKAY. SNOW LEVELS THIS EVENING WILL LOWER TO AROUND 5000 FEET...WITH ADDITIONAL SNOW ACCUMULATIONS OF ONE TO TWO INCHES OVER THE HIGHEST TERRAIN OF ZONE 24. SNOW LEVEL TOMORROW SHOULD INCREASE TO 5500 FEET DURING THE DAY...WITH ANOTHER INCH OR SO POSSIBLE. WILL KEEP THE CHANCE FOR REDEVELOPING SHOWERS OVER OUR EASTERN CWA EARLY FRIDAY...DECREASING TO A SLIGHT CHANCE AS THE DAY WEARS ON. ANOTHER...YET MINOR...WEATHER DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE THROUGH NORTHERN ARIZONA FRIDAY FOR CONTINUED PARTLY CLOUDY SKIES OVER SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA AND SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA...WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR SHOWERS OVER OUR EASTERN CWA. A STRONGER...YET SLIGHTLY WARMER...WEATHER SYSTEM STILL LOOKS ON TRACK FOR SATURDAY AFTERNOON/EVENING. AT THIS TIME...QPFS WITH THIS ONE LOOK TO BE ON THE ORDER OF 15 HUNDREDTHS TO A QUARTER INCH MAX...WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS LINGERING OVER AZ ZONE 24 SUNDAY UNTIL LATE MORNING. A RATHER STRONG NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ON THE BACKSIDE OF THIS SYSTEM WILL DRY THINGS OUT RATHER QUICKLY FROM WEST TO EAST SUNDAY...WITH 1000-500MB THICKNESS LEVELS RISING SUNDAY INTO MONDAY. THUS...THE GREATEST WARM-UP WILL LIKELY BE SUNDAY TO MONDAY...WITH AFTERNOON HIGHS INCREASING ABOUT 5 DEG ACROSS THE BOARD. THE MRF HAS RIDGING SUNDAY AND MONDAY...AND ZONAL FLOW TUESDAY/WEDNESDAY...WITH ANOTHER LOW DEVELOPING OFF THE CENTRAL CA COAST THURSDAY. HAVE DECIDED TO GO WITH MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES MONDAY...AND BECOMING PARTLY CLOUDY CWA WIDE TUESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. HOWEVER...IF THE MRFS CURRENT SOLUTION REMAINS CONSISTENT...WELL LIKELY NEED TO ADD MENTION OF SHOWERS FOR THE LATTER PART OF NEXT WEEK. .PSR...NONE. LW
AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-280100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 600 AM MST THU FEB 27 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...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 72 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:48 UTC.
1 hail, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Large hail in Carefree, reported by local TV station. Small hail was also reported by spotters in Phoenix just before 5 pm MST.
In Fountain Hills, several trees and cactus were blown over, and roofs were damaged. Most of the trees and cactus that were uprooted were more or less in a straight line from Palisades Boulevard and Sunburst Drive to the area east of Fountain Hills Boulevard and Ironwood. Several homes near Ironwood and Thistle sustained roof damage.
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: 5342636, 5342544.