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 Miami, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 23, 1:50 PM EST, 2 hours 10 minutes earlier.
SOUTH FLORIDA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI 250 PM EDT SAT AUG 23 2003 SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING OVER THE EAST COAST METRO REGIONS OF THE CWA ALONG THE EAST COAST SEA BREEZE EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ALONG THE EAST COAST SEA BREEZE...AND ALSO ALONG THE WEST COAST SEA BREEZE THIS AFTERNOON. THE SEA BREEZES WILL MOVE INLAND SLOWLY...AS THE STEERING FLOW IS LIGHT DUE TO HIGH PRESSURE OVER LAKE OKEECHOBEE REGION EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS COULD ALSO PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL THIS AFTERNOON DUE TO THE SLOW MOVEMENT. A FEW OF THE THUNDERSTORMS COULD ALSO BECOME STRONG LATE THIS AFTERNOON OR EARLY EVENING ESPECIALLY WHERE THE SEA BREEZES AND LAKE BREEZE COLLIDE...AS THE MIA SOUNDING THIS MORNING WAS SHOWING SOME DRIER AIR IN THE MID LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE. THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD DIE OUT LATE THIS EVENING OR EARLY TONIGHT...AS THE HEATING OF THE DAY IS LOST. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD THEN DEVELOP OVER THE ATLANTIC WATERS TONIGHT...AND A FEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS COULD MOVE ONSHORE OVER THE EAST COAST. SO I AM GOING TO LEAVE 10 PERCENT IN FOR THE EAST COAST TONIGHT. THE RIDGE WILL REMAIN OVER SOUTH FLORIDA ON SUNDAY SO THE CWA SHOULD SEE THE SAME WEATHER PATTERN THAT WE WILL SEE THIS AFTERNOON. THE RIDGE WILL THEN MOVE NORTHWARD TO NORTHERN FLORIDA ON MONDAY...SO THE CWA SO GET BACK INTO A SOUTHEAST FLOW AND A SUMMER TIME PATTERN. .EXTENDED FORECAST... NOW THE FUN COMES FOR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. THE STRONG TROPICAL WAVE OVER HAITI AND DOMINICAN REPUBLIC EARLY THIS AFTERNOON WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE TO THE WEST NORTHWEST AND SHOULD BE IN SOUTH FLORIDA REGION ON TUESDAY OR EARLY WEDNESDAY. THE GFS MODELS AT THIS TIME DO NOT DEVELOP THIS WAVE INTO A TROPICAL SYSTEM...BUT IT DOES BRING IN TROPICAL MOISTURE TO SOUTH FLORIDA. SO I LEAVE THE POPS UP IN HIGH CHANCE CAT ON TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY FOR THE CWA. ONCE THE TROPICAL WAVE PASSES SOUTH FLORIDA IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WEEK...SOUTH FLORIDA SHOULD GET BACK INTO A SUMMER TIME PATTERN FOR THE END OF THE WEEK AND INTO THE WEEKEND AS THE RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN NORTH OF THE CWA. .MARINE... THE WINDS TONIGHT THROUGH REST OF THE WEEKEND SHOULD BE LESS THAN 10 KNOTS OVER SOUTH FLORIDA...AS THE HIGH WILL REMAIN AROUND LAKE OKEECHOBEE REGION. THE TROPICAL WAVE SHOULD THEN MOVE THROUGH SOUTH FLORIDA WATERS ON TUESDAY OR EARLY WEDNESDAY...WHICH SHOULD CAUSE THE WINDS OVER THE ATLANTIC WATERS TO INCREASE FROM THE EAST SOUTHEAST AT 10 KNOTS LATE MONDAY TO EAST NORTHEAST AT 15 TO 20 KNOTS BY TUESDAY...THEN DECREASE TO SOUTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS ON WEDNESDAY AND TO AROUND 10 KNOTS ON THURSDAY. THE WINDS OVER THE GULF WATERS SHOULD ALSO INCREASE FROM EAST AT 5 TO 10 KNOTS ON MONDAY...TO EAST NORTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 KNOTS LATE TUESDAY AND EARLY WEDNESDAY...THEN DECREASE TO 10 KNOTS BY THURSDAY. .FIRE WEATHER... NO FIRE WEATHER CONCERNS AS THE RELATIVE HUMIDITIES WILL REMAIN ABOVE CRITICAL VALUES. THANKS FOR THE COORD TBW...MLB...AND EYW. .MIA...NONE. PRELIMINARY NUMBERS PBI BB 076/091 077/090 078 543544 FLL BB 078/090 079/089 080 543434 MIA BB 077/091 078/090 079 543544 APF BB 075/090 075/090 076 543435 BAXTER
FLZ063-066>075-231500- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL 500 AM EDT SAT AUG 23 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY ...MODERATE RISK OF LIGHTNING THIS AFTERNOON... ...MODERATE RISK OF WATERSPOUTS ATLANTIC COASTAL WATERS... THERE WILL BE WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS WITH A FEW THUNDERSTORMS ALONG THE EAST COAST THIS MORNING. BY THIS AFTERNOON...THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE PENINSULA. LIGHT STEERING WINDS WILL ALLOW THE THUNDERSTORMS TO AFFECT ALL AREAS BUT THE ACTIVITY SHOULD BE MOST NUMEROUS IN THE INTERIOR AND NORTH PORTIONS. THE MAIN THREATS DUE TO THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE FREQUENT LIGHTNING...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN. ALSO...DUE TO LIGHT WINDS ALOFT...THERE WILL BE A MODERATE RISK OF WATERSPOUT DEVELOPMENT IN THE ATLANTIC COASTAL WATERS...MAINLY THIS MORNING. 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...SUNDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.
FLZ063-066-232130- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL 442 PM EDT SAT AUG 23 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS WESTERN GLADES AND HENDRY COUNTIES... AT 440 AM...THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS WESTERN SECTIONS OF GLADES AND HENDRY COUNTIES MOVING EAST AT 10 TO 15 MPH. THESE STORMS WILL AFFECT AREAS NEAR PALMDALE SOUTH TO LA BELLE AND FELDA THROUGH 530 PM. EXPECT STRONG WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH...LOCALLY HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND EXCESSIVE LIGHTNING WITH THESE STORMS.
The Miami radar (KAMX), 60 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:02 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A lightning-initiated fire destroyed a house in Southwest Ranches. Ammunition in the house exploded.
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: 5368510.