1 tornado, 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 28, 9:45 AM MST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-282245- SOUTHWEST ARIZONA/SOUTHEAST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 945 AM MST FRI FEB 28 2003 .SYNOPSIS... A LARGE LOW PRESSURE AREA HAS MOVED INTO THE SOUTHWESTERN STATES. WITHIN THIS LARGE AREA...IMPULSES DRIFT ACROSS ARIZONA AND TRIGGER MORE RAIN AND SNOW SHOWERS. ONE MORE IMPULSE...NOW IN NEVADA WILL BRING ANOTHER CHANCE OF SHOWERS MAINLY TO SOUTH-CENTRAL ARIZONA SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT. HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT FROM THE PACIFIC IS EXPECTED TO BRING DRY AND WARMER WEATHER THE FIRST HALF OF NEXT WEEK. .DISCUSSION... A COUPLE OF FORECAST ISSUES TO DEAL WITH TODAY. IN THE SHORT TERM WE CONTINUE TO WATCH THE RATHER MOIST...WESTERLY FLOW OVER MUCH OF AZ. CONSIDERABLE PRECIP WATER EVIDENT IN SOUNDINGS WITH KPSR AT .60 INCH. YUMA SOUNDING NOT AVAILABLE AT PRESS TIME. MOIST AND SOMEWHAT UNSTABLE AIR COVERED CENTRAL AND NRN AZ. GOES PW LOOPER SHOWED THE UP TO .75 INCH. MODELS IN GOOD AGREEMENT IN HANDLING THIS CYCLONIC PATTERN...LARGE AREA OF CHANNELED VORTICITY STRETCHED ALL THE WAY FROM ABOUT PRESCOTT...TO SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY...TO THE RENO AREA AT 12Z. ZONES AND PHX TAF WAS UPDATED TO REFLECT THE -SHRA EARLIER...AND WILL HOLD ONTO CURRENT FORECAST TRENDS. THE OTHER ISSUE TO DEAL WITH IS THE LONGER TERM DIFFERENCES IN THE MODELS. WE ARE TALKING ABOUT THE TWO DIFFERENT PATTERNS THAT ECMWF AND THE GFS SUGGEST BY 12Z WED. AS THE LONG-WAVE UPPER RIDGE SHOWS SOME RETROGRESSION...EACH S/WV THAT DIVES SOUTH OF ABOUT 40N SHOULD SHEAR OFF AND GIVE ONLY NRN AZ A BRUSH BY EFFECT. HOWEVER...A CUTOFF LOW WILL LIKELY REMAIN WELL OFFHSORE CA BY THAT TIME...WITH A SUBTROPICAL JET ACROSS NRN MEXICO OR FAR SOUTHERN AZ. WILL NOT INTRODUCE ANY MENTION OF PRECIP AT THIS TIME...BUT WE MAY HAVE TO SHOW A BIT MORE MID/HIGH CLOUDS BY MID WEEK. IN ANY CASE MAX TEMPS TO REBOUND BACK INTO THE MID 70S FOR PHX. SIPPLE .PSR...NONE.
AZZ020>028-CAZ030>033-010100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PHOENIX AZ 600 AM MST FRI FEB 28 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...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.
The Phoenix radar (KIWA), 30 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:15 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Numerous reports of funnel clouds sighted in Scottsdale and Carefree areas. One neighborhood, near Hayden and Indian Bend received 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 historyThe tornado archive for Arizona, 2003Warnings 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: 5342541.