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 Miami, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 18, 4:00 AM EST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.
SOUTH FLORIDA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL 400 AM EST TUE NOV 18 2003 .DISCUSSION... HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE WESTERN ATLANTIC WATERS WILL MOVE EAST TODAY...AS A COLD FRONT OVER THE PLAIN STATES MOVES INTO THE SOUTHEAST US REGION TONIGHT. THIS WILL ALLOW FOR THE WINDS TO GO FROM AN EASTERLY DIRECTION TO A SOUTHEAST DIRECTION TONIGHT...AND ALLOW FOR MOISTURE TO RETURN TO THE CWA TONIGHT. SO I AM GOING TO LEAVE IN THE ISOLATED SHOWERS STARTING THIS AFTERNOON OVER THE CWA THROUGH TONIGHT...BUT THERE COULD ALSO BE A FEW SPRINKLES OVER THE EAST COAST METRO REGION THIS MORNING. THE COLD FRONT IS FORECAST TO MOVE INTO THE LAKE OKEECHOBEE REGION LATE WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON OR EVENING...AND THEN MOVE THROUGH THE CWA EARLY WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND BE SOUTH OF SOUTH FLORIDA BY MIDNIGHT. SO I AM GOING TO LEAVE IN THE SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTH FLORIDA ON WEDNESDAY...AS THE FLOW WILL BECOME SOUTHWEST AND ALLOW FOR THE TROPICAL MOISTURE TO COME IN FROM THE SOUTHERN GULF OF MEXICO. I AM ALSO GOING TO PUT IN ISOLATED ACTIVITY IN MY SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE CWA EARLY WEDNESDAY NIGHT UNTIL THE FRONT CLEAR THIS REGION. .EXTENDED FORECAST... HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD INTO THE SOUTHERN GULF COAST STATES LATE THIS WEEK AND MOVE SLOWLY EASTWARD INTO THE SOUTHEAST US THROUGH THE WEEKEND...AS LOW PRESSURE DEVELOPS OFF THE MID ATLANTIC COAST AND MOVES SLOWLY EASTWARD INTO THE ATLANTIC WATERS. THIS WILL ALLOW FOR A NORTH TO NORTHWEST FLOW OVER THE CWA THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY BEFORE COMING AROUND TO AN NORTHEAST DIRECTION. WITH THE NORTHWEST FLOW...LOW TEMPS FOR FRIDAY AND SATURDAY COULD FALL INTO THE LOWER TO MID 50S INTERIOR TO THE UPPER 50S TO NEAR 60 ALONG THE EAST COAST. HIGHS SHOULD BE IN THE MID TO UPPER 70S DURING THIS TIME TOO. .MARINE... MODERATE EAST FLOW WILL VEER SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST ON WEDNESDAY AHEAD OF FRONT. WINDS WILL PICK UP AND BECOME NORTHWEST AND NORTH BEHIND THE FRONT ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT...INCREASING SEAS ESPECIALLY OVER THE GULF STREAM. SEAS TODAY WILL BE NEAR 6 FEET IN THE GULF STREAM ON THE MODERATE EAST FLOW AND REMAIN THERE THROUGH WEDNESDAY. BUT ONCE THE COLD FRONT COMES THROUGH EARLY WEDNESDAY NIGHT...THE SEAS WILL BUILD QUICKLY TO 6 T0 8 FEET NEARSHORE TO 11 TO 13 FEET IN THE GULF STREAM BY THURSDAY MORNING. .FIRE WEATHER... NO FIRE WEATHER ISSUES THROUGH WEDNESDAY. WILL SEE MUCH DRIER AIR BEHIND THE FRONT BY THURSDAY. IN ADDITION... DISPERSION VALUES WILL INCREASE SLIGHTLY BY THURSDAY BEHIND THE FRONT AS TRANSPORT WINDS INCREASE. A FIRE WEATHER WATCH MAY BE REQUIRED FOR THURSDAY. A LOT CAN CHANGE WITH DEW POINT FORECASTS BETWEEN NOW AND THEN SO WILL HOLD OFF ON A WATCH FOR NOW. .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... WEST PALM BEACH 84 75 84 62 / 10 20 50 00 FORT LAUDERDALE 84 75 86 64 / 10 20 40 10 MIAMI 85 74 85 63 / 10 20 40 20 NAPLES 86 68 80 61 / 00 20 50 00 .MIA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE.
FLZ063-066>075-181600- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL 504 AM EST TUE NOV 18 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY ...MODERATE RISK OF RIP CURRENT ATLANTIC BEACHES TODAY... SOUTHEAST WINDS OF 15 TO 20 MPH WILL RESULT IN A MODERATE RISK OF RIP CURRENTS ALONG THE OCEAN BEACHES OF PALM BEACH... BROWARD...AND MIAMI-DADE COUNTIES TODAY. NO OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. 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...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 rip current. Local standard time, as filed.
A Finnish tourist drowned after being caught in a rip current behind a hotel on Collins Avenue. Winds were from the east at 20 mph.
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, Miami-Dade | 2003-11-18 | 62 | 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, November 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: 5335782.