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 Miami, FL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 24, 8:25 AM EST, 4 hours 20 minutes earlier.
SOUTH FLORIDA AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL 925 AM EDT WED SEP 24 2003 MORNING SOUNDING AT KMFL INDICATES ATMOSPHERE OVER SOUTH FLORIDA CONTINUES TO GRADUALLY MOISTEN AND DESTABILIZE. PRECIPITABLE WATER CURRENTLY AROUND 2 INCHES WILL DEFINITELY SUPPORT SCATTERED CONVECTION TODAY. STABILITY PARAMETERS DO NOT INDICATE THAT ANY STORMS WILL BECOME STRONG...HOWEVER...DUE TO THE WEAK STEERING FLOW AND HIGH MOISTURE LEVELS LOCALIZED RAINFALL COULD BE COPIOUS. UM WSETA MODEL SURPRISINGLY INDICATES ONLY MORNING SHOWER ACTIVITY EAST COAST THEN SCATTERED CONVECTION DEVELOPING MID-LATE AFTERNOON ALONG THE WEST COAST. BELIEVE CURRENT FORECASTS HAVE BETTER HANDLE WITH SCATTERED AFTERNOON POPS ALL ZONES. WINDS OVER THE MARINE AREAS CONTINUE VERY LIGHT AS SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE REMAINS IN PLACE ACROSS THE REGION. NO UPDATES TO THE CURRENT FORECASTS NEEDED AT THIS TIME. PREVIOUS DISCUSSION................................................. .DISCUSSION...WELL IT NOW SEEMS TO APPEAR THAT A LOW IS DEVELOPING IN THE ATLANTIC BETWEEN 60W AND 70W BELOW 30N. IT DOES NOT APPEAR THIS WILL HAVE THAT MUCH OF AN IMPACT ON US OTHER THAN TO KEEP THE ATLANTIC SURFACE RIDGE FROM COMING BACK VERY STRONG ON US THROUGH THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. COOL FRONTAL TROUGH DID MAKE IT INTO NORTHERN FLORIDA BUT NOW THAT SEEMS AS FAR AS IT WILL BE ABLE TO MOVE UNTIL LATE IN THE WEEK. BY LATE SATURDAY THIS TROUGH SHOULD GET A PUSH TO THE SOUTH WITH THE DEEPENING TROUGH AND LOW OVER THE EASTERN U.S. AND THE LACK OF MUCH OF A SURFACE RIDGE OVER US. STILL PROBABLY NOT ENOUGH TO PUSH IT COMPLETELY THROUGH OUR ZONES SO WE SHOULD STAY SOUTH OF THE FRONTAL TROUGH THROUGH OUR FORECAST PERIOD. WITH THE RELATIVELY WEAK SURFACE PATTERN WE SHOULD STILL MAINLY HAVE DAYTIME AND EVENING CONVECTION. WE HAVE SEEN THE MOISTURE INCREASE THROUGHOUT OUR AREA SO WILL WE CONTINUE TO SHOW AN INCREASE IN PROBABILITIES AS WE APPROACH THE WEEKEND. ALSO WITH THE APPROACH OF THE FRONTAL TROUGH BY THE WEEKEND THE FLOW SHOULD HAVE MORE OF A WESTERLY COMPONENT AND THUS OUR EASTERN ZONES WILL HAVE THE HIGHEST PROBABILITIES. MAYBE BY THE VERY END OF THE FORECAST THE SURFACE TROUGH WILL BE ABLE TO REBUILD UNDER THE UPPER ATLANTIC RIDGE AND WE WILL GO BACK TO EASTERLY FLOW. .MARINE...WITH NO STRONG RIDGE OR FRONT THE WINDS AND SEAS SHOULD BE GOOD FOR BOATING THE REMAINDER OF THE WEEK. ALTHOUGH THE ATLANTIC SURFACE LOW COULD PRODUCE SOME SWELLS LATE IN THE WEEK. THE BIGGER PROBLEM WILL BE ALL OF THE SHOWERS THAT APPEAR TO BE READY TO SPOIL THE WEEKEND. .FIRE WEATHER...NO HIGHLIGHTS. .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... WEST PALM BEACH 89 77 87 75 / 40 30 50 20 FORT LAUDERDALE 89 79 87 76 / 40 30 50 20 MIAMI 89 78 88 77 / 40 30 50 20 NAPLES 89 75 87 75 / 40 30 50 20 .MIA WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE.
FLZ063-066>075-241600- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL 537 AM EDT WED SEP 24 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH FLORIDA. .DAY ONE...TODAY ...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTH FLORIDA TODAY... ENOUGH MOISTURE AND SUFFICIENT INSTABILITY WILL COMBINE TO PRODUCE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ANYTIME TODAY OVER THE EASTERN SECTIONS OF SOUTH FLORIDA. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON OVER THE INTERIOR AND WESTERN SECTIONS. MAIN THREATS WILL BE LOCAL PONDING OF WATER IN LOW LYING AREAS...DUE TO A RATHER SLOW MOVEMENT OF STORMS...AND DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING. 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...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.
The Miami radar (KAMX), 60 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:44 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
An 81-year-old man was seriously injured by a lightning strike as he walked down the sidewalk near Johnson Street
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: 5374625.