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 Little Rock, AR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 20, 3:00 AM CST, 10 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 400 AM CDT WED AUG 20 2003 YET ANOTHER HOT DAY IN STORE...WITH ONLY ISOLATED AFTERNOON/EVENING THUNDERSTORMS. HIGH PRESSURE ALOFT REMAINS STRONG...WITH PRETTY MUCH THE SAME WEATHER EXPECTED ON THURSDAY. APPEARS THAT A PATTERN CHANGE WILL FOLLOW...WITH HIGH PRESSURE SETTING UP SHOP IN WESTERN UNITED STATES HEADING INTO FRIDAY. CLOCKWISE FLOW AROUND HIGH WILL PRODUCE NORTHERLY FLOW ALOFT...WITH COLD FRONT TO NORTH RIDING THE FLOW INTO ARKANSAS. GIVEN THIS...RAIN CHANCES WILL INCREASE SURROUNDING FRONT ON FRIDAY...WITH MORE CLOUDS/SLIGHTLY COOLER TEMPERATURES. LATEST DATA SHOWS FRONT SAGGING TO THE SOUTH ON SATURDAY...WITH THE FRONT STALLING ALONG THE GULF COAST. KEPT RAIN CHANCES IN FOR CENTRAL/SOUTHERN ARKANSAS ON SATURDAY...WITH SCATTERED PRECIPITATION PUSHING SOUTH WITH FRONT TO END THE WEEKEND. A LITTLE CONCERNED THAT FORECAST TOO OPTIMISTIC...AND IS AN OUTSIDE SHOT THAT RAIN CHANCES WILL STICK AROUND FOR SUNDAY MAINLY SOUTH OF LITTLE ROCK. THIS SCENARIO MAY PLAY OUT IF FRONT STALLS FARTHER NORTH THAN EXPECTED...OR SHORTWAVE INTERACTS WITH FRONT TO PUSH MOISTURE BACK INTO STATE. WILL WATCH FOR THIS SCENARIO IN THE COMING DAYS. IN ANY EVENT...COOLER TEMPERATURES/LOWER HUMIDITIES BEHIND FRONT THIS WEEKEND...WITH HEAT TAKING A BREAK. HRO 94 73 93 72 / 10 10 20 30 LIT 97 76 96 76 / 20 20 20 20 HOT 98 75 96 75 / 20 20 20 20 PBF 97 75 96 75 / 20 20 20 20 .LZK...HEAT ADVISORY FOR TODAY FOR ZONES ARZ021>022...ARZ030>034... ARZ037>047...ARZ052>057...ARZ062>069. 46
ARZ003>007-012>016-021>025-030>034-037>047-052>057-062>069-210930- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LITTLE ROCK AR 500 AM CDT WED AUG 20 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR A LARGE PART OF ARKANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A HEAT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT TODAY FOR PARTS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH ARKANSAS. HIGH HUMIDITY AND HIGH TEMPERATURES WILL COMBINE ONCE MORE TO PRODUCE HEAT INDEX READINGS BETWEEN 105 AND 115 OVER MUCH OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH ARKANSAS THIS AFTERNOON. HEAT-RELATED WEATHER HAZARDS CAN BE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON WITH THESE HOT CONDITIONS. WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED IN THE STATE TODAY AND EARLY TONIGHT...ALTHOUGH NO STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME SEVERE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY ONLY WIDELY SCATTERED TO SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED OVER THE STATE THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY. A COLD FRONT WILL BE AFFECTING ARKANSAS DURING THE LATTER PART OF THE WEEK. IT IS FORECAST TO ENTER ARKANSAS LATE THURSDAY OR EARLY FRIDAY MORNING. SINCE THE FRONT WILL BE CROSSING THE STATE DURING THE NIGHT...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE COLD FRONT. SOMEWHAT COOLER AND DRIER AIR WILL ENTER THE STATE AFTER THE FRONT MOVES ACROSS ARKANSAS. THE POSSIBILITY EXISTS FOR THE FRONT TO STALL AND SOME AREAS MAY NOT GET ANY RELIEF FROM THE HEAT AND HUMIDITY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. 32
The Little Rock radar (KLZK), 48 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:09 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm winds downed a large tree onto a power line.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Arkansas, August 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: 5332981.