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 May 15, 1:10 PM CST, 2 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 210 PM CDT THU MAY 15 2003 FOR THE CURRENT PACKAGE...SAME OLE PROBLEM AS PREVIOUS FORECASTS...TRYING TO PIN DOWN SHORTWAVE TIMING IN A MODERATELY AMPLIFIED AND RATHER PROGRESSIVE PATTERN OVER THE CONUS. STARTING TO GET SOME MOISTURE BACK TO THE NORTHERN-EASTERN GULF COASTAL REGION...WITH SURROUNDING AREAS ALONG THE I-20 CORRIDOR SHOWING PRECIP H20 LEVELS AROUND 1.4 ON THIS MORNINGS SOUNDINGS...1.2-1.3 ALONG THE GULF COAST PROPER. LAST NIGHTS/THIS MORNINGS RAIN HELPED...WITH MORE MID/UPPER LEVEL MOISTURE STREAMING INTO MX/SOUTHERN PLAINS FROM THE EASTERN PACIFIC. WEAK SHORTWAVE OVER THE SOUTHERN MISS RIVER VALLEY THE CAUSE OF THE CURRENT AND PREVIOUS RAIN OVER THE AREA...WITH STRONG SHORTWAVE OVER THE DESERT SOUTHWEST THE CAUSE OF THE INCREASED MOIST FLOW FROM THE PACIFIC. HELPING TO PUSH THE UPPER DYNAMICS A BIT FARTHER SOUTH THAN EXPECTED IS UPPER SYSTEM OVER THE SOUTHERN GREAT LAKES. .THROUGH THE SHORT TERM...ETA/GFS/NGM ADVERTISING THE DESERT SOUTHWEST LOW WORKING ITS WAY OVER THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY...WITH SOUTHERLY FLOW INCREASING A BIT AND BRINGING THE MOISTURE LEVELS BACK UP. WITH SOUTHERLY FLOW...WILL LIKELY CONTINUE CURRENT TREND AND KEEP COASTAL AND NEAR COASTAL STATIONS ABOVE MOS LOWS...NEAR OR BELOW MOS HIGHS. INLAND...WILL SEE TREND TOWARDS ABOVE. FOR POPS...AM GOING TO TO CONTINUE CURRENT TREND OF CONTINUING CURRENT ACTIVITY INTO THE EVENING...THEN TAPERING IT OFF A BIT...WITH AN INCREASE IN POPS LATER SATURDAY. CANT TAKE POPS OUT ENTIRELY...ESPECIALLY COASTAL AREAS...AS FEEL SOUTHERLY WINDS MIGHT BE LIGHT ENOUGH FOR A FEW GULF BREEZE INITIATED TSRA TO POP ALONG THE COAST. .IN THE EXTENDED...ALL MEDIUM RANGE MODELS SHOWING A SHORTWAVE OVER THE LOWER MISSISSIPPI RIVER VALLEY AT F72/SUNDAY MORN. FROM THERE...THERE IS SOME DIVERGENCE...WITH 06Z GFS SAGGING THE SHORTWAVE SLOWLY SOUTH(WITH 00Z ETA EXTENDED HINTING AT THIS ALSO) AS CURRENT GREAT LAKES SYSTEM MEANDERS EAST IN THE SHORT TERM...THEN SOUTH ALONG THE EASTERN SEABOARD IN THE EXTENDED. THE REST OF THE PACK TAKING THE SHORTWAVE EASTWARD...WITH THE GREAT LAKES SYSTEM CONTINUING EAST. 00Z MRF PROJECTION OF THE GFS HINTS AT THE 06Z GFS SHORTWAVE MOVEMENT...BUT TAKES IT FARTHER EAST BEFORE SAGGING IT SOUTH. AT F84...00Z ENSEMBLES ARE ALL OVER THE PLACE...WITH ENSEMBLE MEAN LEANING TOWARDS THE REST OF THE OPERATIONAL MODELS...SO AM GOING WITH THE ENSEMBLE SOLUTION. .MARINE...LIGHT TO MODERATE ONSHORE WIND FLOW EXPECTED OVER THE COASTAL WATERS THROUGH EARLY SATURDAY. INCREASING WINDS...ALONG WITH BUILDING SEAS FROM INCREASED FETCH/DURATION...LOOK TO BE IN THE CARDS OVER THE LATTER PART OF THE WEEKEND AS A STRONGER FRONTAL SYSTEM APPROACHES FROM THE WEST. NOT EXPECTING THINGS TO GET INTO CAUTION/ADVISORY LEVELS...THOUGH. .FIRE...NO CONCERNS. 16/29 MILLER/EVERSOLE .PRELIMINARY TEMPS / POPS... MOBILE 74 87 73 87 75 / 20 10 00 00 20 PENSACOLA 74 85 74 87 76 / 30 10 00 00 10 DESTIN 76 83 76 84 76 / 30 10 00 00 05 EVERGREEN 69 88 70 89 71 / 30 05 00 00 20 WAYNESBORO 68 87 70 88 70 / 20 00 00 00 30 CAMDEN 68 86 70 89 70 / 30 05 00 00 30 .MOB... AL...NONE. FL...NONE. MS...NONE.
ALZ051>064-FLZ001>006-MSZ067-075-076-078-079-151700- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 555 AM CDT THU MAY 15 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR INLAND SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI... SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...AND THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE. .DAY ONE...(TODAY AND TONIGHT) SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE REGION FROM TODAY...GRADUALLY DIMINISHING THIS EVENING. THE STORMS WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST ALONG A STATIONARY FRONTAL BOUNDARY THAT WILL CONTINUE ACROSS PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI AND ALABAMA THROUGH TONIGHT. SOME OF THE STORMS COULD BE STRONG...PRODUCING GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE... ESPECIALLY OVER INTERIOR SECTIONS AWAY FROM THE COASTLINE. OTHERWISE...NO WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS OR SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED THROUGH THIS EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...(FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY) A STRONGER WEATHER SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO AFFECT THE SOUTHEAST DURING THE EARLY PART OF NEXT WEEK. AT THIS TIME...NO HAZARDOUS OR SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION FOR SEVERE WEATHER OPERATIONS SHOULD NOT BE NEEDED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck several transformers and knocked power lines down in Fort Walton Beach.
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, May 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: 5358510.