1 flood, 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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 27, 2:00 PM CST, 5 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 300 PM CDT SUN APR 27 2003 PRIMARY CONCERNS FOR THIS FORECAST ARE THE CHANCES OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THE UPCOMING WORK WEEK. SKIES ARE SEVERELY SUNNY...AND TEMPERATURES THROUGHOUT THE QUAD STATE HAVE WARMED INTO THE 70S...ALTHOUGH NOT QUITE AS WARM AS EXPECTED. THE ETA AND GFS ARE IN PRETTY GOOD AGREEMENT IN BRINGING A CHANCE OF CONVECTION TO THE AREA TOMORROW...SIMILAR TO YESTERDAY MORNINGS ETA. BOTH MODELS DEVELOP CONVECTION TO THE WEST AND NORTHWEST OVERNIGHT TONIGHT...AND STEADILY PUSH IT EASTWARD THROUGH THE DAY TOMORROW. THIS MAIN CLUSTER OF CONVECTION SHOULD REMAIN TO OUR NORTH...NEARER THE COLD FRONT. HOWEVER...WITH MODERATE INSTABILITY DEVELOPING ACROSS THE REGION...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE WESTERN PORTIONS...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT WILL BE POSSIBLE MAINLY ACROSS SOUTHEAST MISSOURI AND SOUTHERN ILLINOIS. THE ACTIVITY IF IT DEVELOPS MAY REACH THE PAH AND EVV AREAS BY LATE AFTERNOON. GIVEN THE AMOUNT OF INSTABILITY PRESENT...THE SLIGHT RISK FOR LARGE HAIL SEEMS REASONABLE OVER SOUTHEAST MISSOURI AND SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...WHERE INSTABILITY WILL BE GREATEST. WIND FIELDS WILL BE RATHER WEAK THROUGH THE COLUMN...SO DO NOT EXPECT ALOT OF ORGANIZED CONVECTION...BUT RATHER A PULSY SCENARIO. THE STORMS SHOULD WEAKEN AS THEY REACH WESTERN KENTUCKY AND SOUTHWEST INDIANA AS THEY RUN OUT OF THE BEST INSTABILITY. THE ETA AND GFS SAG THE SURFACE FRONT DOWN TO THE NORTHERN PERIPHERY OF THE FORECAST AREA LATE MONDAY NIGHT...AND QUICKLY LIFT IT WELL NORTH OF THE AREA BY LATE TUESDAY. WILL KEEP CHANCE POPS AREAWIDE FOR MONDAY NIGHT AND TUESDAY...WITH BEST POPS IN NORTHERN ZONES NEARER TO THE FRONT. AM NOT REAL ENTHUSED ABOUT THE CONVECTIVE CHANCES IN THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE AREA...BUT WITH AT LEAST MODERATE INSTABILITY DEVELOPING IN THE AREA...AND STRENGTH OF THE CAP IN DOUBT...WILL KEEP THE LOW CHANCES THERE ANYWAY. THE AREA WILL FIND ITSELF CLEARLY IN THE WARM SECTOR TUESDAY NIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. THE GFS IS MORE AGRESSIVE WITH INCREASING CAPPING ACROSS THE AREA DURING THIS PERIOD...AND NEITHER MODEL DEVELOPS MUCH...IF ANY QPF. HOWEVER...WITH SOUTHERLY FLOW IN THE LOW LEVELS FINALLY INCREASING...AND MOISTURE INCREASING ACROSS THE AREA...WILL KEEP A SLIGHT CHANCE OF TSRA GOING THROUGH THIS PERIOD. THE GFS IS STILL FASTER THAN THE ECMWF BY UP TO 12 HOURS WITH THE FROPA FOR THURSDAY OR THURSDAY NIGHT...BUT WILL KEEP THE GOOD CHANCE POPS GOING FOR LATE THURSDAY AND THURSDAY EVENING. THERE WILL BE A BETTER CHANCE OF ORGANIZED SEVERE WEATHER WITH THE STORMS NEAR THE FRONT THURSDAY. DECIDED TO EXTEND PRECIPITATION CHANCES IN THE SOUTHEAST HALF OF THE AREA THROUGH THE DAY ON FRIDAY...DUE TO POTENTIAL FOR A SLOWER THAN EXPECTED FRONTAL PASSAGE. THE GFS LOOKS TO BE A BIT STRONG WITH SURFACE HIGH AND COLD ADVECTION MOVING IN BEHIND THE FRONT. HAD TO COOL THINGS OFF A BIT FOR FRIDAY AND FRIDAY NIGHT...BUT CONDITIONS SHOULD STILL BE RATHER MILD. SHORT-TERM TEMPERATURE GUIDANCE WAS IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT...SO GENERALLY STAYED WITHIN THE RANGE PROVIDED. NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES TO EXISTING GRIDS. .PAH...NONE. DRS
ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087-100- 107>112-114-281000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 400 PM CDT SUN APR 27 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND WESTERN KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS SOUTHEAST MISSOURI AND SOUTHERN ILLINOIS ON MONDAY. INSTABILITY WILL BE SUFFICIENT FOR A FEW STORMS TO PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...HOWEVER...WIND FIELDS WILL BE TOO WEAK FOR ORGANIZED SEVERE WEATHER. THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE WEAKENING AS THEY REACH SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND WESTERN KENTUCKY BY LATE AFTERNOON. THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE THROUGHOUT THE REGION FROM TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER AGAIN ON THURSDAY...AS A COLD FRONT MOVES THROUGH THE AREA. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TONIGHT...BUT SPOTTERS ACROSS SOUTHEAST MISSOURI AND SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR ACTIVATION ON MONDAY. DRS
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flood. Local standard time, as filed.
The Big Muddy River rose less than a foot above flood stage at Murphysboro. This resulted in very minor flooding of low-lying fields.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Illinois in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Illinois, April 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: 5349367.