1 rip current, 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 Aug 31, 5:01 AM CST, 6 hours 59 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL...MESOSCALE UPDATE... 548 AM CDT SUN 31 AUG 2003 PRESSURE GRADIENT ALONG THE ALABAMA COAST INCREASED SLIGHTLY THIS MORNING MOSTLY DUE TO DIURNAL EFFECTS FROM STRONG RIDGE TO THE EAST. WITH THIS HAD TO UPDATE CURRENT MARINE PRODUCT ADDING A SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY TO THE AL/FL GULF COASTAL WATERS FROM PNS TO PQL MAINLY FOR THIS MORNING. .MOB ... AL...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR GMZ650-670. FL...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR GMZ650-670. MS...NONE. /32
ALZ051>064-FLZ001>006-MSZ067-075-076-078-079-312000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 1145 AM CDT SUN AUG 31 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...INTERIOR SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE. .DAY ONE...(TODAY AND TONIGHT) SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE UNTIL MIDNIGHT SOUTHWEST OF A LINE FROM HINTONVILLE MISSISSIPPI...IN CENTRAL PERRY COUNTY...TO GULF SHORES ALABAMA...IN SOUTHERN BALDWIN COUNTY. THIS DEVELOPMENT IS IN RESPONSE TO AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVING FROM THE NORTHERN GULF INTO SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI. WIND GUSTS TO 35 MPH... FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...AND PERIODS OF VERY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT WITH SOME OF THE STRONGER STORMS. ISOLATED WATERSPOUTS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE THROUGH SUNSET ALONG THE COAST FROM THE WEST END OF DAUPHIN ISLAND TO GULF SHORES. AN UPPER LEVEL SUB-TROPICAL RIDGE WILL CONTINUE TO STRENGTHEN OVER THE SOUTHEAST STATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY. THIS FEATURE WILL HELP SUPPRESS THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT NORTHEAST OF THE AFOREMENTIONED LINE. A FEW ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING ACROSS THIS AREA...BUT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. A MODERATE RISK FOR RIP CURRENTS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH TONIGHT DUE TO THE STRONG SOUTHEASTERLY WINDS ALONG THE COAST. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...(MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY) THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL LIMIT THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT TO AN ISOLATED AREAL COVERAGE DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING HOURS THROUGH TUESDAY. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL RETURN THE OUTLOOK AREA THROUGH THE LATTER HALF OF THE WEEK AS AN UPPER LEVEL TROUGH APPROACHES FROM THE NORTHWEST. THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF EMERGENCY MANAGERS AND STORM SPOTTERS IS NOT EXPECTED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
An eighteen year old resident alien from Mexico disappeared in rough surf near Fort Pickens. He worked for a landscaping company who were treating their employees to a day at the beach. He drowned in the rough surf.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rip Current, Escambia | 2003-08-31 | 18 | 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, 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: 5376899.