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 Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 21, 7:55 PM CST, 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
755 PM CST FRI FEB 21 2003
SHOWER AND TSTM ACTIVITY HAS DIMINISHED OVER THE CWFA SOME THIS
EVENING...BUT AN OCNL SVR STORM IS STILL OCCURRING. WILL UPDATE
ZONES IN A FEW MINUTES TO ADJUST WORDING...BUT STILL EXPECT NEAR 100
PERCENT POPS OVERNIGHT TONIGHT...WITH SOME HEAVY RAINFALL AND SVR
WEATHER EXPECTED. BELIEVE ACTIVITY WILL INCREASE DRAMATICALLY
ACROSS FCST AREA AFTER MIDNIGHT AS SFC WARM FRONT LIFTS NORTH ACROSS
THE REGION...AND STRONG UPPER SUPPORT APPROACHES FROM THE WEST. WILL
LIKELY SEE A SVR WEATHER WATCH OR TWO FOR OUR AREA OVERNIGHT.
.MS...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT MSZ067-075-076-078-079.
.AL...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT ALZ051>055-061>064.
SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT TONIGHT AND SATURDAY GMZ630-650-
670.
.FL...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY IN EFFECT TONIGHT AND SATURDAY GMZ655-675.ALZ051>064-FLZ001>006-MSZ067-075-076-078-079-220400- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 225 PM CST FRI FEB 21 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR INLAND SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI... SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...AND THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE. .DAY ONE...(THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT) SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON. A FEW OF THESE WILL PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN AND SOME PONDING OF WATER ON AREA ROADS. AN UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM AND SURFACE LOW PRESSURE CENTER WILL MOVE NORTHEAST ACROSS MISSISSIPPI TONIGHT. THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY THIS EVENING OVER INLAND SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI. THE LINE OF STORMS WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHWEST ALABAMA BETWEEN 9 PM AND MIDNIGHT AND INTO THE WEST FLORIDA PANHANDLE AND ALABAMA COUNTIES TO THE NORTH BETWEEN MIDNIGHT AND 3 AM. THE MAIN THREAT WILL BE DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS...LARGE HAIL AND ISOLATED TORNADOES. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT TONIGHT FOR INLAND SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI AND THE ALABAMA COUNTIES...GENERALLY TO THE WEST OF INTERSTATE 65...INCLUDING BALDWIN COUNTY. AN ADDITIONAL 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAIN POSSIBLE OVER THE WATCH AREA TONIGHT ON TOP OF THE 1 TO 2 INCHES THAT FELL TODAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...(SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY) SOME SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAY BE ONGOING AT SUNRISE SATURDAY MORNING OVER THE FLORIDA PANHANDLE AND EXTREME SOUTH CENTRAL ALABAMA. THE STORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL...STORM SPOTTERS AND HAM RADIO OPERATORS WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning from a thunderstorm hit the communication center in Milton and started a fire. The fire was put out with minor damage occurring to some electronic equipment at the center.
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, February 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: 5343697.