1 funnel cloud, 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 Aug 20, 2:30 AM EST, 6 hours earlier.
SOUTH FLORIDA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI 330 AM EDT WED AUG 20 2003 .TODAY THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT... LATEST SFC ANALYSIS SHOWS PRESENCE OF A VERY SUBTLE SURFACE TROUGH ACROSS CWA PERHAPS A RESULT OF THE NORTHERN EXTENT OF TROPICAL WAVE WEST OF CUBA SPLITTING UP AS THE WAVE MOVED ACROSS THE STRAITS. THIS HAS COMBINED WITH UPR LVL DIVERGENCE RESULTING FROM FLOW AROUND UPR LOW WEST OF CUBA AND MID LVL RIDGE TO THE NE OF THE CWA TO PRODUCE CONVECTION ACROSS THE SE ATL WATERS EARLIER THIS MORNING. LATEST GPS WATER VAPOR RETRIEVALS CONTINUE TO SHOW PWAT HOVERING AROUND 2 INCHES FROM EYW TO OKE ACROSS THE CWA. SO THIS MEANS THAT FOR TODAY WE SHOULD HAVE THE NORMAL DIURNAL CONVECTION ENHANCED FURTHER BY THE AFOREMENTIONED FEATURES. HAVING SAID THAT...HAVE DECIDED TO GO WITH ABOVE NORMAL POPS MEANING 50 PERCENT EAST COAST AND WEST COAST AND 60 PERCENT INLAND. WITH LOW AND UPR LVL RIDGE TO OUR NE STEERING FLOW SHOULD BE SE AT LESS THAN 10 KNOTS SO LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS AGAIN POSSIBLE. AFTER TODAY...WE SHOULD RETURN TO A MORE SUMMERTIME PATTERN MEANING SE REGIME WITH LATE NIGHT MORNING SHOWERS/TSTMS EAST COAST...SCATTERED AFTERNOON ACROSS INLAND AREAS OF THE SE COAST... AND NUMEROUS SHWRS/TSMTS DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING ACROSS THE INTERIOR AND WEST COAST THROUGH THU NIGHT AS PWAT VALUES REMAIN BETWEEN 1.8 AND 2 INCHES. .FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY... LOW LVL EASTERLY FLOW TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE EXTENDED WITH GFS DIGGING AN UPR LVL TROUGH ALONG EAST COAST BY WEEKEND...BRINGING THE RIDGE BACK BY EARLY IN THE WEEK AS TROPICAL WAVE CURRENTLY ACROSS THE LESSER ANTILLES MOVES SOUTH OF THE AREA BY THAT TIME. GIVEN THE YO-YO EFFECT IN THE MODEL WITH THE TIMING OF THESE FEATURES WILL LET CURRENT FORECAST TRENDS UNTOUCHED. .MARINE... WINDS WILL REMAIN AT 10 KNOT OR LESS THROUGH FORECAST PERIOD SO NO HIGHLIGHTS. .FIRE WEATHER WILL HAVE NO HIGHLIGHTS. PBI TB 089/077 089/077 089 5252323 FLL TB 088/078 088/079 089 5252323 MIA TB 089/077 089/078 089 5252323 APF TT 089/074 089/074 089 5253535= MIA...NONE.
FLZ063-066>075-201500- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL 516 AM EDT WED AUG 20 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO THE SOUTHERN PENINSULA THIS MORNING AND BECOME NUMEROUS OVER MOST OF SOUTH FLORIDA BY THE AFTERNOON. THE MAIN THREATS WILL BE FREQUENT LIGHTNING...STRONG GUSTY WINDS TO 40 MPH AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN. 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...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
0923 AM EDT WED AUG 20 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0900 AM 3 E WEST PALM BEACH FL WATER SPOUT
08/20/03 PALM BEACH WATERSPOUT CAME ASHORE
NEAR WEST PALM BEACH AROUND
900 AM EMBEDDED IN A LINE
OF SHOWERS, THEN MOVED
THROUGH A CONSTRUCTION SITE
ON THE BEACH. BLEW AROUND
SOME TARPS TIED TO COCONUT
TREES AND DITURBED A PILE
OF SCRAP PLYWOOD. NO
FURTHER DAMAGE AND NO
INJURIES. WATERSPOUT ALSO
REPORTED BY THE TOWER AT
NEARBY PALM BEACH
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
CHRISTENSENPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
0923 AM EDT WED AUG 20 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0900 AM 3 E WEST PALM BEACH FL WATER SPOUT
08/20/03 PALM BEACH WATERSPOUT CAME ASHORE
NEAR WEST PALM BEACH AROUND
900 AM EMBEDDED IN A LINE
OF SHOWERS, THEN MOVED
THROUGH A CONSTRUCTION SITE
ON THE BEACH. BLEW AROUND
SOME TARPS TIED TO COCONUT
TREES AND DITURBED A PILE
OF SCRAP PLYWOOD. NO
FURTHER DAMAGE AND NO
INJURIES. WATERSPOUT ALSO
REPORTED BY THE TOWER AT
NEARBY PALM BEACH
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.
CHRISTENSENThe Miami radar (KAMX), 115 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:28 UTC.
1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
A funnel cloud was seen over the Palm Beach Zoo at Dreher Park.
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, 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: 5368509.