11 thunderstorm wind, 6 flash flood, 1 tornado, 1 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 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 Memphis, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 16, 1:15 PM CST, 4 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 215 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 2003 .SYNOPSIS... 18Z SFC MAP PLACES AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE OVER C OK WITH A STATIONARY FRONT EXTENDING EWRD FROM THE LOW THRU N ARK AND NW TN. THIS SFC LOW IS ASSOCIATED WITH A CLOSED UPPER LOW THAT WILL PERSIST OVER THE REGION THROUGHOUT THE WEEKEND. .TONIGHT...LOW PRESSURE MOVES INTO NW ARK OVERNITE. AN UPPER SHRTWV WILL PINWHEEL THRU THE REGION THIS EVENING AND OVERNITE. A SFC BNDRY IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS S ARK AND C MS EARLY THIS EVENING AND SURGE NORTHWARD DURING THE EVENING AND BE THRU THE REGION AROUND 9Z. MODERATE SVR POTENTIAL EXISTS THIS EVENING ACROSS EASTCENTRAL ARK...NW MS AND SW TN AS THIS BNDRY MOVES NORTH. THIS IS DUE TO A GOOD AMOUNT OF 0-3KM HELICITY PRESENT. DESPITE THE RELATIVELY LOW CAPE VALUES PRESENT AND MODEST INSTABILITY...IF SUPERCELLS WERE TO DEVELOP THERE IS A GOOD CHANCE THAT THEY WILL BEGIN ROTATING. ALL INDICATIONS ARE THAT THE SVR POTENTIAL WILL DIMINISH SHORTLY AFTER MIDNIGHT. .SATURDAY...LOW MOVES TO SE ARK. MIDSOUTH IS INTO THE WARM SECTOR AND THE SVR THREAT WILL BE WIND/HAIL. WIND FIELDS BECOME UNIDIRECTIONAL AND ARE FAIRLY STRONG...SO WIND DAMAGE FROM TSTRMS IS POSSIBLE. INSTABILITY BECOMES WEAKER TOMORROW AS INDICATED BY LIS OF AROUND -2 AND WK MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES. .SAT NITE...LOW MOVES INTO NE LA. ATMOSPHERE BECOMES INCREASINGLY STABLE AND PRECIP TRANSITIONS INTO MORE OF STRATIFORM RA W/ ONLY ISO THUNDER. BY SUNDAY THE LOW MOVES TO SW MS AND THE REGION SHOULD SEE A PERSISTENT LIGHT RAIN AROUND THE LOW. .SUNDAY NITE AND MONDAY...LOW MOVES OFF THE LA COAST AND INTO THE GULF. AN INVERTED TROF STILL EXISTS OVER THE REGION...HOWEVER THERE SEEMS TO BE LITTLE LIFT PRESENT AND ATMOSPHERE BEGINS TO DRY OUT. SO...STILL WILLING TO KEEP DRY FCST GOING. .TUESDAY THRU THURSDAY... ON TUESDAY...THE NEXT SHRTWV AND ASSOCIATED FRNT ARRIVES BRINGING YET ANOTHER ROUND OF TSTRMS TO THE REGION. THE FRNT SEEMS TO SETTLE JUST SOUTH OF THE REGION WHICH WILL KEEP THE THREAT FOR RAIN AROUND FOR WED AND THU. .MEG...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 03Z FOR MO BOOTHEEL...NE ARK...NW MS AND PARTS OF W TN. VALLE
ARZ008-009-017-018-026>028-035-036-048-049-058-MOZ113-115-MSZ001>017- 020>024-TNZ001>004-019>021-048>055-088>092-171000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 400 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST ARKANSAS...NORTH MISSISSIPPI...WEST TENNESSEE AND THE MISSOURI BOOTHEEL. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE IS A MODERATE RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER TONIGHT SOUTH AND WEST OF LINE FROM WALNUT RIDGE TO COVINGTON TO RIPLEY TO HOUSTON. ELSEWHERE...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. DURING THE EVENING HOURS UPPER LEVEL WINDS WILL INCREASE AND ANOTHER BOUNDARY WILL MOVE NORTH INTO THE MID SOUTH. MORE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THIS EVENING AND CONDITIONS WILL BE FAVORABLE FOR SOME STORMS TO BECOME SEVERE. THERE IS A THREAT FOR TORNADIC DEVELOPMENT AS WELL AS LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...ESPECIALLY IN THE MODERATE RISK AREA. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE ALSO CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HEAVY RAINFALL...RESULTING IN FLASH FLOODING. THE MOST LIKELY TIME FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE UNTIL MIDNIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SOME STORMS MAY BE SEVERE SATURDAY WITH MAINLY LARGE HAIL. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED TODAY THROUGH SATURDAY. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER DETAILS OR UPDATES. FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION...CHECK OUR WEB SITE AT HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/MEG. VALLE
ARZ027-035-162315- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEMPHIS TN 554 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 2003 THIS SIGNIFICANT WEATHER ADVISORY IS FOR...CROSS AND POINSETT COUNTIES. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 9 MILES WEST OF HICKORY RIDGE AT 554 PM CDT...MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH. PEOPLE IN CROSS AND POINSETT COUNTIES SHOULD MONITOR THIS STORM CLOSELY.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
11 thunderstorm wind, 6 flash flood, 1 tornado, 1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Parts of some gravel roads were washed out. Several other roads were flooded. Some fields were also flooded.
A grain silo was damaged near Waldenburg. A house trailer was destroyed. Numerous trees were blown down with some of the trees falling on houses.
Several trees and power lines were knocked down.
The tornado touched down in Harrisburg and traveled east. The Harrisburg High School was damaged while commencement exercises were going on. Several houses in Harrisburg were damaged. A large barn was displaced off its foundation. Many trees were knocked down.
Some trees and power lines were knocked down.
Some trees and tree limbs were blown down.
Some streets were flooded. Many fields were flooded.
Several roads across the county were flooded. Some fields were flooded across the county.
Three inches of rain fell in one hour. A few roads were flooded with at least 6 inches of water on them.
Several houses and one car were damaged. Some trees and power lines were blown down.
Several trees and power lines were blown down.
Parkin City Hall was flooded. Several homes had their basements flooded. Some of the roads lost chunks of asphalt. Numerous roads were flooded across the county with water on some roads nearly knee high. Some fields were also flooded.
A church was flooded in Earle. Several homes were flooded in the county forcing sixty residents to evacuate their homes. A section of Interstate 55 was closed due to flooding. Numerous roads across the county were also flooded. Many fields were flooded.
A church had its doors damaged in Hickory Ridge. Many trees were blown down.
The Hughes High School gymnasium had most of its roof blown off. The locker rooms near the football field were also damaged. Several trees and power lines were knocked down.
Several trees were knocked down.
Some trees and power lines were knocked down.
Several trees and power lines were blown down.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Arkansas in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Arkansas, 2003Warnings in Arkansas, 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: 5357493, 5358226, 5358225, 5357494, 5357486, 5358219, 5357484, 5357485, 5358220, 5358221, 5357492, 5357487, 5358222, 5358223, 5358224, 5357488, 5357489, 5357490, 5357491.