1 flash flood, 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 Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 8, 2:50 AM CST, 4 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 350 AM CDT TUE APR 8 2003 LATEST SATELLITE AND RADAR LOOPS SHOW WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND TSTMS STRETCHING WEST TO THE EAST TX COAST MOVING NE INTO SOUTHERN MS...AL AND THE NWFL PANHANDLE. AT THE SFC FRONTAL BOUNDARY WAS NOTED FROM NE AND CENTRAL TX TO THE TN RIVER VALLEY MOVING SEWARD SLOWLY. ALOFT NEXT S/W WAS MOVING FROM E TX INTO W LA PROGGED TO MOVE ENE INTO SOUTHERN MS AND AL DURING THE DAY TODAY. WITH PWS ALONG THE NORTH GULF COAST RUNNING ABOUT 1.6 TO 2 INCHES BELIEVE HEAVY PERIODS OF RAIN WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT THROUGH MUCH OF THE MORNING. WITH THIS WILL CONTINUE WITH FLOOD WATCH THROUGH THE MORNING DUE TO THE UNCERTAINTY OR SLOWNESS OF THE MAIN TROF TO THE WEST. CURRENT FORECAST REFLECTS THIS WELL WITH THE MENTION OF HEAVY RAIN ALONG WITH WIDESPREAD CONVECTION MOSTLY OCCURRING THIS MORNING. WILL CONTINUE TO HOLD OFF WITH THE FLOOD WATCH OVER THE IMMEDIATE COASTAL ZONES DUE TO LITTLE TO NO RAIN WHICH OCCURRED HERE DURING THE LAST COUPLE OF DAYS. OTHERWISE...LITTLE CHANGE TO CURRENT PACKAGE CAN BE EXPECTED. LATEST MODEL SOLUTIONS STILL NOT CONSISTENT WITH CURRENT PATTERN OVER MUCH OF THE SOUTHEAST WITH GFS THE MOST ROBUST WITH THE PRECIP MAINLY TODAY LIKELY FROM ONGOING CONVECTIVE FEEDBACK PROBLEMS. LATEST MAV GUIDANCE SUGGESTS RAIN CHANCES WILL DROP DRAMATICALLY IN THE WAKE OF THE FRONT WITH ETA AND NGM HOLDING ON THE SCATTERED TO LIKELY POPS THROUGH WED. WITH THIS WILL CONTINUE TO SPLIT THE DIFFERENCE HOLDING ON TO SCATTERED AREAS OF RAIN BEHIND THE FRONT THE THROUGH EARLY WED. COOLER THAN NORMAL TEMPS WILL PREVAIL IN THE WAKE FRONT AND UPPER LOW OVER THE CENTRAL GULF STATES THROUGH MUCH OF THE WEEK WITH LOW CLOUDS MOVING OUT FROM WEST TO EAST SLOWLY DURING THE DAY ON THU. PRES GRADIENT NEAR THE SFC WILL BEGIN TO RELAX FROM WEST TO EAST ALSO BEGINNING LATE WED NIGHT INTO EARLY THU GIVING WAY UNSEASONABLY COOL TEMPS TO THE WEST AND NORTH BY THU MORNING. MEAN FLOW WILL REMAIN MOSTLY FROM THE N THROUGH SAT KEEPING COOL TEMPS AND COMFORTABLE HUMIDITIES ACROSS THE FA THROUGH THE WEEKEND. .MARINE...EAST TO NORTHEAST FLOW WILL QUICKLY TURN BACK TO THE S THIS MORNING SHIFTING THE NW AROUND 15 TO 20 KNOTS THIS AFTERNOON THEN BUILDING FROM THE NW THROUGH WED NIGHT. WINDS AND SEAS WILL GRADUALLY SUBSIDE ON THU AS UPPER LOW SHIFTS EAST. WILL GO WITH EXERCISE CAUTION TODAY THEN LIKELY UP TO THE SCA FOR TONIGHT THOUGH ONLY MENTION IN THE TEXT FOR NOW. .FIRE...NO CONCERNS. /32 PRELIM NUMBERS... MOB TC 071/048 061/036 063 3282- PNS TC 073/051 064/039 064 3282- DTS TC 073/054 066/043 063 3282- GZH TC 070/049 060/036 057 32831 2RO TC 065/045 055/034 061 32621 61A TC 069/050 059/037 056 32831= .MOB... AL...FLOOD WATCH THIS MORNING ALZ051>060-061-062. FL...FLOOD WATCH THIS MORNING FLZ001-003-005. MS...FLOOD WATCH THIS MORNING MSZ067-075-076-078-079.
ALZ051>064-FLZ001>006-MSZ067-075-076-078-079-081800- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL...UPDATED... 605 AM CDT TUE APR 8 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR INLAND SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI... SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...AND THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE. .DAY ONE...(TODAY) A SLIGHT RISK OF ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS CONTINUES MAINLY EAST OF A LINE FROM MOBILE TO THOMASVILLE IN ALABAMA INCLUDING THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE. THE PRIMARY THREAT IS LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. THIS THREAT WILL DIMINISH THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. THERE IS ALSO THE POTENTIAL FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. A SERIES OF UPPER DISTURBANCES WILL INTERACT WITH A MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS AHEAD OF AN APPROACHING COLD FRONT TO PRODUCE NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. THESE STORMS WILL CONTINUE TO TRAIN UP FROM SOUTHERN LOUISIANA AND DUMP AS MUCH AS 3 TO 5 INCHES LOCALLY THROUGH THIS AFTERNOON. THESE ADDITIONAL RAINFALL AMOUNTS OVER AN ALREADY SATURATED GROUND WILL RESULT IN THE POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING THROUGH EARLY THIS EVENING. FOR THIS REASON...A FLOOD WATCH HAS BEEN POSTED FOR SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...MOST OF SOUTHWEST ALABAMA AND INTERIOR SECTIONS OF NORTHWEST FLORIDA. ALONG THE IMMEDIATE COAST THE THREAT OF DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS CONTINUES THROUGH EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. WINDS WILL SHIFT TO THE WEST THEN NORTHWEST LATER THIS AFTERNOON AS A STRONG COLD FRONT MOVES ACROSS THE REGION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...(WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY) NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED FOR DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND STORM SPOTTER OFFICIALS FOR PRIMARILY THE FLASH FLOOD THREAT MAY BE NECESSARY TONIGHT ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...SOUTHWEST ALABAMA AND INLAND AREAS OF THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rains from slow moving thunderstorms caused several streets to flood in the Fort Walton Beach area. Some side streets had to be closed for about an hour due to high water. Radar estimated that four to six inches of rain fell across the area.
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: 5350399.