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 25, 8:18 AM EST, 5 hours 2 minutes earlier.
EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 918 AM EDT THU SEP 25 2003 .DISCUSSION...MOST NOTICEABLE PARAMETER ON THE MORNING SOUNDINGS WAS THAT THE 500 MB TEMPS WERE AROUND MINUS 9. ADDITIONALLY PRECIPITABLE WATER WAS ABOUT 2 INCHES AT CANAVERAL. EARLY MORNING SATELLITE SHOWING THAT THERE WILL BE PLENTY OF SUNSHINE SO EXPECT THAT CONVECTION WILL DEVELOP EARLIER AND COVERAGE WILL BE GREATER THAN YESTERDAY. RADAR LOOPS SHOWING SHOWERS/ISOLATED STORMS MOVING NORTH NEAR THE GULF STREAM...INDICATING SOME WEAK SOUTHERLY STEERING. LATEST EXPERIMENTAL MESO MODEL SHOWS OLD LOW LEVEL BOUNDARY JUST NORTH OF THE AREA...WITH H85 BOUNDARY A LITTLE FURTHER SOUTH IN VOLUSIA COUNTY. CONVECTIVE COMPLEX SOUTH OF THE WESTERN PANHANDLE WAS OCCURRING AHEAD OF AN EAST SOUTHEAST MOVING IMPULSE. MODELS INDICATE THAT ASSOCIATED VORT MAX WILL NOT BE REACHING THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON THOUGH THERE MIGHT BE SOME DEBRIS CLOUD CONTAMINATION. THINK THAT POPS WILL HAVE TO BE RAISED A LITTLE ACROSS THE NORTH PART OF THE AREA WITH THE HIGHER MOISTURE AND POSSIBLE WEAK LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE FROM OLD BOUNDARY. STEERING FLOW IS FORECAST TO BECOME SOUTHEAST IN SOUTHERN SECTIONS...SO BULK OF AFTERNOON DEVELOPMENT SHOULD SHIFT INLAND AND MIGHT NUDGE COASTAL POPS DOWN. .MARINE...WINDS AT BUOYS BEING AFFECTED BY CONVECTION...BUT OVERALL FLOW WILL REMAIN MAINLY SOUTHEAST LESS THAN 10 KNOTS...EXCEPT FOR MAINLY EASTERLY IN THE NORTH. .MLB...WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...NONE. SHORT TERM...LASCODY LONG TERM...WIMMER
AMZ550-555-570-575-FLZ041-044>047-053-054-058-059-064-141-144-147- 252000- EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 1140 AM EDT THU SEP 25 2003 .DAY ONE...TODAY: A MORE MOIST AND UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE ACROSS THE AREA TODAY WILL LEAD TO A GREATER COVERAGE OF STORMS COMPARED TO YESTERDAY. THE MAIN FOCUS WILL BE THE INLAND MOVING SEA BREEZE BOUNDARY. THE GREATEST COVERAGE WILL BE OVER INTERIOR COUNTIES DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AS BOUNDARY INTERACTIONS INCREASE. A FEW OF THESE STORMS COULD BECOME STRONG WITH FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND GUSTY WINDS. STORMS WILL BE SLOW MOVING...GENERALLY NORTHWEST TO NORTH AROUND 5 MPH. THIS WILL LEAD TO THE POTENTIAL FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL OF 2 TO 3 INCHES IN SOME LOCATIONS...CAUSING TEMPORARY FLOODING OF LOW LYING AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY: SCATTERED AFTERNOON LIGHTNING STORMS CAN BE EXPECTED THROUGH THE WEEKEND. COVERAGE MAY START TO DECREASE EARLY NEXT WEEK AS A WEAKENING FRONTAL BOUNDARY SLIDES INTO SOUTH FLORIDA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED TODAY. FOR A GRAPHICAL VERSION OF THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...GO TO WWW.WEATHER.GOV AND CLICK ON EAST CENTRAL FLORIDA. RL
FLZ058-251830- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MELBOURNE FL 139 PM EDT THU SEP 25 2003 ...STRONG STORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING WIND GUSTS UP TO 50 MPH OVER OKEECHOBEE COUNTY... AT 134 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG WIND GUSTS 13 MILES SOUTH OF FORT DRUM...MOVING NORTH AT 10 MPH. FREQUENT LIGHTNING WAS ALSO OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM. RL
The Melbourne radar (KMLB), 84 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:18 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A power plant worker was injured by lightning while in a working basket on top of a crane on a utility truck.
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: 5336887.