1 lightning, 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 Los Angeles, CA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 28, 8:00 PM PST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.
SOUTHWEST CALIFORNIA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOS ANGELES/OXNARD CA 900 PM PDT MON JUL 28 2003 CERTAINLY A LITTLE MORE ACTIVE TONIGHT THAN PREVIOUS NIGHTS. WITH THE UPR HIGH STRADDLING AN INVERTED TROUGH OVER SRN CA AND DEEP MID/UPR LEVEL EASTERLY FLOW...ATMOS HAS MOISTENED UP QUITE A BIT. 00Z SOUNDINGS FROM KVBG AND KNKX SHOWED PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES OF 1.25 AND 1.75 RESPECTIVELY. ALTHOUGH THE ATMOS IS ONLY SLIGHTLY UNSTABLE...ITS ENOUGH TO GIVE US THE ISOL-SCT CONVECTION WEVE SEEN THIS EVENING. CURRENT RADAR SHOWING A BAND OF LIGHT TSRA JUST NOW MOVING OFF THE LA COUNTY COAST. THIS BAND AMAZINGLY HELD ITSELF TOGETHER WHILE CROSSING THE HIGH TERRAIN OF THE SAN GABRIEL MTNS EARLIER THIS EVENING. UPSTREAM...THERE IS ANOTHER BATCH OF SHOWERS MOVING SOUTHWEST ACROSS THE ANTELOPE VALLEY AND LA COUNTY MTNS. SAT PIX AND 00Z MODEL DATA SHOW PLENTY OF MOISTURE FARTHER TO THE EAST WITH WEAK SHORTWAVES WHICH WILL MOVE WESTWARD OVERNIGHT AND TUESDAY. SO WILL NEED TO KEEP THE SMALL CHC OF PRECIP IN THE FCST GOING. THE AREA MOST PRONE TO SHOWER ACTIVITY OVERNIGHT IS LA AND VTU COUNTIES. LATER TUESDAY AND WED...PLACES FARTHER NORTHWEST FROM SBA TO SLO AND PRB WILL HAVE A BETTER CHC OF SEEING SOME SHOWER/TSRA ACTIVITY. ZONES HAVE ALREADY BEEN UPDATED TO KEEP THE CHC OF PRECIP GOING ALL NIGHT FOR LA/VTU COUNTIES. LAX 2222. MOYER .LOX...MARINE WEATHER STATEMENT (SEE LAXMWSLOX).
The Santa Ana Mts radar (KSOX), 71 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:43 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
In Duarte, an 11 year-old boy was struck by lightning. The child only sustained minor injuries.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in California in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in California, July 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: 5378414.