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 Melbourne, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 13, 8:30 PM EST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.
EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 930 PM EDT SAT SEP 13 2003 ...BELOW NORMAL RAIN CHANCES NEXT FEW DAYS... ...VERY POWERFUL HURRICANE ISABEL ABOUT 1200 MILES ESE OF CAPE CANAVERAL... DIURNAL CONVECTION OVER THE S/W PENINSULA IS DYING DOWN...NO DIRECT IMPACTS EXPECTED OVER THE ERN PENINSULA OTHER THAN CONVECTIVE DEBRIS CLOUDS. RADAR RETURNS OVER VOLUSIA COUNTY ARE CHARACTERISTIC OF A CHAFF DROP...EXPECIALLY SINCE LATEST SAT IMAGERY INDICATES NO CLOUDS OVER THE COASTAL COUNTIES N OF THE CAPE. EVENING RAOBS SHOW A DISTINCT AMS CHANGE OVER THE STATE: KJAX HAS A SHALLOW LIGHT E FLOW THAT BACKS TO A RELATIVLEY STRONG NW FLOW ABV H90...PW VALUES 1.3 DEPTH OF THE ERLY FLOW INCREASES TO H75 AT KMFL WITH A MUCH WEAKER NW FLOW ALOFT...WHILE BOTH PW VALUES AT KTBW/KMFL HAVE INCREASED TO 2.1. AFTN FCST PACKAGE LOOKS FINE...NO UPDATES PLANNED THIS EVENING. MARINE... LONG PD NE SWELL CONTINUES TO LINGER OVER THE LCL WATERS. DESPITE E/NE WINDS AOB 10KTS ACROSS THE AREA...BUOYS009/012 MEASURING 4FT SEAS...BUOY010 JUST BLO 7FT. MINOR TWEAKS TO THE WIND FOR DIRECTION...ALSO WILL MENTION SWELL IN THE BODY OF THE FCST. LATEST WAVE MODEL GUIDANCE INDICATING 3-4M SEAS FROM HURRICANE ISABEL IMPACTING THE E FL COAST BY LATE TUE INTO WED OF NEXT WEEK. NRN WATERS WILL FEEL THE GREATEST IMPACT AS THE SRN WATERS WILL BE SOMEWHAT PROTECTED BY THE NRN BAHAMA BANK UNTIL ISABEL CLIMBS NORTH OF THEIR LATITUDE. WILL INCREASE THE NRN WATERS ON TUE/WED...BUT WILL LEAVE THE REMAINDER OF THE FCST ALONE. WILL MENTION BEACH EROSION AND DANGEROUS BREAKING WAVES IN THE SYNOPSIS AS WELL. .MLB...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. SHORT TERM...SPRATT LONG TERM....BRAGAW
AMZ550-555-570-575-FLZ041-044>047-053-054-058-059-064-141-144-147- 132100- EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 1122 AM EDT SAT SEP 13 2003 .DAY ONE...TODAY ...HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS... LONG PERIOD NORTHEAST SWELLS WILL BE A CONCERN TODAY FOR AREA BEACHES. THE SWELLS...COMBINED WITH AN ONSHORE WIND AND ASTRONOMICALLY HIGH TIDES WILL RESULT IN A HIGH RISK FOR RIP CURRENTS. REMEMBER TO CHECK WITH THE BEACH PATROL ABOUT ANY AND ALL OCEAN HAZARDS. IF HEADING TO THE BEACH...GO WITH A FRIEND AND ALWAYS SWIM WITHIN SIGHT OF A LIFEGUARD. THE SWELLS WILL ALSO RESULT IN DIFFICULT WAVE ACTION NEAR INLETS DURING THE PERIOD OF OUTGOING TIDE. BOATERS SHOULD BE CAUTIOUS WHEN GOING THROUGH INLETS DURING THE TIME OF OUTGOING TIDE. ONLY A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS TODAY ALONG THE IMMEDIATE COAST FROM ORMOND BEACH TO JUPITER...AND FOR UPPER SECTIONS OF THE FORECAST AREA NORTH OF KISSIMMEE. HOWEVER...LOWER INTERIORS SECTIONS WILL REALIZE A LITTLE BETTER CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS DUE TO THE HIGHER AVAILABLE MOISTURE AND ACTIVE SEA BREEZE ACTIVITY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. ISOLATED TO SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IN THE FORECAST FOR EACH DAY BRINGING THE THREAT OF LIGHTNING. HURRICANE ISABEL IS FORECAST TO BE ROUGHLY 740 MILES EAST OF THE EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA COAST BY WEDNESDAY. IT MUST BE REMEMBERED THAT THIS IS AN OUTLOOK AND ERRORS ASSOCIATED WITH THE OUTLOOK PERIOD CAN BE AS MUCH AS 400 NAUTICAL MILES. WHILE IT IS UNCERTAIN WHETHER THIS TROPICAL CYCLONE WILL ULTIMATELY POSE A THREAT TO THE REGION...AT THIS TIME...IT WOULD BE PRUDENT FOR LOCAL INTERESTS TO TAKE REASONABLE PRECAUTIONS SHOULD THE THREAT MATERIALIZE. SOME SUGGESTED ACTIONS... REVIEW YOUR FAMILYS HURRICANE PLAN. MARINE INTERESTS SHOULD REVIEW THEIR HURRICANE PLANS. IF THE TROPICAL CYCLONE APPROACHES THE REGION...HIGH TIDES...HEAVY SURF...RIP CURRENTS AND LARGE BREAKERS AT INLETS MAY DEVELOP WELL AHEAD OF THE STORM. LARGE EAST SWELLS ARE FORECAST TO BEGIN REACHING THE EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA COASTAL WATERS AS EARLY AS MONDAY. BEACHFRONT INTERESTS SHOULD PLAN ON SECURING OBJECTS VULNERABLE TO SURF ACTION PRIOR TO THE HIGH SURF DEVELOPING. LOCAL AND MARINE INTERESTS SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR FORECASTS AND THE PROGRESS OF THIS TROPICAL CYCLONE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY. FOR A GRAPHICAL VERSION OF THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...GO TO WWW.WEATHER.GOV AND CLICK ON EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA.
The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 116 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:58 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck a warehouse in Port Orange. The resulting fire caused $250 thousand in damage.
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, September 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: 5336885.