1 high surf, 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 Miami, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 20, 1:00 PM EST, 3 hours earlier.
SOUTH FLORIDA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI 200 PM EDT SUN APR 19 2003 .TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT... MORE SUBSIDENCE AND STABLE AIR MOVED IN OVER SOUTH FLORIDA LAST NIGHT AIDING IN LESS SHRA ACTIVITY. MODELS INDICATE THIS TREND WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MONDAY SO HAVE REMOVED MENTION OF POPS THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT. ALSO EASTERLY FLOW HAS BECOME MORE NORTHEAST AND WILL BECOME EVEN MORE SO DURING THE NIGHT WITH THIS FLOW ALSO BECOMING SHALLOWER. THIS WOULD TEND TO CUT OFF ANY FORM OF ORGANIZED COASTAL SHRA ACTIVITY. MESO-ETA NOW AGREEING WITH GFS THAT WIND SHIFT OCCURS ON TUESDAY ALONG WITH A SLIGHTLY MORE MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS SO WILL PUT BACK IN MENTION OF SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHRA. NO CHANGES IN TEMPS FORESEEN. IN FACT, HAVE OPTED TO LUMP ALL INTERIOR ZONES TOGETHER AS TEMPERATURES THERE HAVE BEEN CONSISTENTLY SIMILAR RANGING FROM THE LOWER TO MID 60S AT NIGHT AND MID TO UPPER 80S DURING THE DAY. COUPLE OF DEGREES OF DAYTIME COOLING FOR TUESDAY WITH EXPECTED MORE CLOUD COVER AND WIND SHIFT. .WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY... BASICALLY MORE OF THE SAME. AIRMASS DRIES OUT AGAIN FOR WEDNESDAY BUT THEN ANOTHER FRONT MOVES INTO NORTH FLORIDA LATE THIS WEEK FOR ANOTHER INCREASE IN MOISTURE FOR SOUTH FLORIDA. NOT IMPRESSED WITH THIS FEATURE SO AM ONLY GOING TO MENTION ISOLATED SHRA FOR FRIDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. .MARINE... BIG CONCERN ARE THE NORTHEAST SWELLS AFFECTING THE ATLANTIC. BOUY 10 REPORTING 11 FOOT SWELLS AT 17Z WITH WNA WAVE MODEL FORECASTING 9 FEET FOR THE SAME TIME. WEB CAM FROM JUPITER INLET DOES SHOW SOME CHOPPINESS TO THE WAVES COMING IN SO COULD BE APPROACHING THE 6 FOOT SWELLS WE HAD FORECAST. WAVE MODEL NOW SHOWING THESE SWELLS AFFECTING MOST OF PALM BEACH COAST TONIGHT WITH POSSIBLE 7 FOOT SWELLS NEAR JUPITER INLET FOR MONDAY BEFORE SUBSIDING DURING THE AFTERNOON. THE 6 FOOT SWELLS MAY ACTUALLY AFFECT THE EXTREME NORTHEAST CORNER OF BROWARD BUT WILL HOLD OFF FOR NOW IN GOING BONKERS. IF THIS HAPPENS IT WOULD NOT BE UNTIL MONDAY. WILL HEADLINE FOR THE PALM BEACH SEGMENT THAT SCA MAY BE NEEDED FOR MONDAY BUT WILL HOLD ONTO SCEC FOR TONIGHT. OTHER THAN THIS, NO OTHER PROBLEMS FORESEEN WITH WINDS BECOMING LIGHT AND VARIABLE ON MONDAY NIGHT ALONG WITH SUBSIDING SEAS THEN WINDS BECOMING WEST ON TUESDAY, NORTH ON WEDNESDAY, NORTHEAST ON THURSDAY, AND SOUTHEAST TO SOUTH ON FRIDAY. ALL SPEEDS AT 10 KNOTS OR LESS THEN INCREASING ON FRIDAY AHEAD OF AFOREMENTIONED FRONTAL SYSTEM. NO FIRE WEATHER PROBLEMS. PRELIM NUMBERS... PBI BB 068/083 067/084 066 0002 FLL BB 070/083 069/084 068 0002 MIA BB 070/084 069/084 069 0002 APF BB 067/083 067/083 067 0002 .MIA...NONE. KOB
FLZ063-066>075-201530- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL 530 AM EDT SUN APR 20 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY ...CHANCE OF RIP CURRENTS ALONG ATLANTIC BEACHES... MODERATE NORTHEAST SWELLS OF UP TO SIX FEET...GENERATED BY A SURFACE LOW OVER THE ATLANTIC JUST NORTHWEST OF BERMUDA...WILL BEGIN TO ARRIVE TO THE ATLANTIC BEACHES OF SOUTH FLORIDA TODAY. THE SWELLS WILL FIRST AFFECT THE PALM BEACH COUNTY BEACHES AND THEN SPREAD RAPIDLY SOUTH TO BROWARD AND MIAMI-DADE COUNTIES. NORTHEAST WINDS OF 10 TO 15 KNOTS WILL ALSO COMBINE WITH THESE SWELLS TO RESULT IN A CHANCE OF RIP CURRENTS ALONG ATLANTIC BEACHES TODAY. NO OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND DETAILED GRAPHICS CAN BE FOUND ON THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEB SITE AT MIAMIWEATHER.INFO. FOR INFORMATION IN SPANISH, VISIT OUR WEB SITE AT ELTIEMPOENMIAMI.INFO. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high surf. Local standard time, as filed.
Swells from Subtropical Storm Ana combined with an outgoing tide caused a small craft to capsize as it attempted to traverse the Jupiter Inlet. Two tourists drowned and two others were rescued.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| High Surf, Coastal Palm Beach | 2003-04-21 | 64 | Female | In Water | Direct |
| High Surf, Coastal Palm Beach | 2003-04-20 | 65 | Male | In Water | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Florida in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Florida, April 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: 5358984.