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 Denver/Boulder, CO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 16, 1:15 AM MST, 10 hours 45 minutes earlier.
NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 215 AM MDT SAT AUG 16 2003 SHORT TERM DISCUSSION...TDA/TNGT...MDLS MAINTAIN UPR RDG OVR GRT PLAINS AND UPR TROF OVR GRT BASIN ALLOWING MID AND HI LVL TROPCL MONSOONL MSTR TO STRM NWD ON SLY FLO ALF INTO CNTRL RCKYS. STLT LOOP THIS MRNG SUGGESTS THAT MST OF THIS MSTR WILL BE SHUNTD WWD OVR THE MTNS WITH THE NERN PLAINS RMNG DRY AND CAPPED. MDLS SHW PCPN OVER MTNS...ERN FTHLLS AND URBAN CORRIDOR BUT QUESTION RMNS OF WHERE TO DRAW THE LINE AFT BEING BAMBOOZLED BY MODELS YESTRDY INTO BELIEVNG THERE WUD BE PCPN IN MTNS. FCST UPR AIR SOUNDINGS ARE NOT CONCLUSIVE FOR PCPN OVR URBAN CORRIDOR...ESPECIALY SINCE STEERING SLY WNDS ALF WUD TEND TO CONFINE CONVECTION TO MTNS AND NOT SPRD IT EWD. SO WILL LWR POPS A SMIDGEN OVR MTNS...MTN VLYS AND ERN FTHLLS THIS AFTN AND EVE AND TAKE MENTION OF PCPN OUT OF URBAN CORRIDOR THIS AFTN...BUT WILL KEEP ISOLD CONVCTN FOR URBAN CORRIDOR THIS EVE. MODELS SHOW LTL OR NO CHANGE IN TEMPS ALF FM YESTRDY...SO WUD LUK FOR LTL CHNG IN MAX/MIN TEMPS FOR TDA/TNGT. GARD...WFO BOULDER LONG TERM DISCUSSION: FOR SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY...SUBTROPICAL PLUME OF MSTR WILL BE OVER COLORADO...AS THE AREAS IS SANDWICHED BETWEEN A RIDGE OVR NV AND ANOTHER OF KS/OK. A WEAK UPPER TROF AXIS OVR THE STATE IS PROGGED TO GRADUALLY SHIFT TO THE EAST AS A WEAK STORM SYSTEM DROPS OUT OF THE NRN ROCKIES AND ACRS CO SUNDAY NIGHT INTO MONDAY. PATTERN WILL BE FAIRLY UNSETTLED THRU THIS TIME FRAME WITH THE BEST POTENTIAL FOR ANY RAINFALL ON SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY. WL MAINTAIN UP POPS TO SCT IN THE MTNS ON SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT AND SPREAD ISOLD POPS FURTHER OUT INTO THE NERN PLAINS OF CO DURING THE AFTN AND EVENING. BY TUESDAY...THE PACIFIC TROF WILL MOVE INTO THE NRN GREAT PLAINS AS A BROAD WEST TO EAST ORIENTED RIDGE WILL BE OVER THE SRN U.S. WITH A NORTHWESTERLY FLOW ALF OVR CO BY THE AFTN. THERE SHUD BE ENUF MSTR COUPLED WITH AFTN INSTBY TO KEEP A SLGT CHC OF TS IN THE FCST FOR MUCH OF THE CWA ON TUESDAY AFTN/EVNG. AS FOR THE REST OF THE FCST...WILL MAINTAIN A DRY FCST GOING INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK WITH NO CHANGES BEYOND TUESDAY AT THIS TIME. COOPER .DEN...NONE.
COZ030>051-171200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DENVER CO 1100 AM MDT SAT AUG 16 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL COLORADO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE DEVELOPING IN THE MOUNTAINS AND FOOTHILLS THROUGH THE AFTERNOON. THE BIGGEST THREAT FROM THE STORMS WILL BE FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN. ENOUGH RAIN MAY FALL TO PRODUCE FLOODING PROBLEMS IN THE BURN AREAS OF THE FOOTHILLS. THERE IS STILL A SLIGHT CHANCE THAT THE STORMS WILL MOVE OFF THE FOOTHILLS AND INTO THE I-25 CORRIDOR LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. ON THE EASTERN PLAINS...THE AIRMASS IS TOO STABLE TO SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY A CHANCE OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING THUNDERSTORMS IS EXPECTED OVER THE MOUNTAINS AGAIN SUNDAY DURING THE AFTERNOON. BY LATE AFTERNOON OR EARLY EVENING...ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL SPREAD INTO THE FRONT RANGE AND PLAINS. A TROUGH FROM THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST WILL MOVE INTO THE AREA EARLY NEXT WEEK. THIS WILL CAUSE THE FOCUS FOR THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TO SHIFT FROM THE MOUNTAINS INTO THE PLAINS. HOWEVER...THE ATMOSPHERE WILL REMAIN QUITE DRY THROUGH THE UPCOMING WEEK AND THE THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE WILL BE ONLY ISOLATED TO SCATTERED. SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. BARJENBRUCH/046/KALINA/
The Denver radar (KFTG), 95 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:00 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A teenage was injured when he was struck while camping at Herman Lake. The boy was knocked unconcious and suffered minor injuries.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Colorado in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Colorado, 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: 5374740.