Tornado and Hail in Indiana, May 8, 2003

Name: Tornado and Hail in Indiana, May 8, 2003
Start: 2003-05-08T19:35
End: 2003-05-08T19:51
Location: Indiana

May 8, 2003 · NWS LMK · 2 events in 1 county or zone

1 hail, 1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $120,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

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.

What forecasters said that day

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 Louisville, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 8, 1:55 PM EST, 5 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 8, 1:55 PM EST, 5 hours 40 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
255 PM EDT THU MAY 8 2003

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM NORTHERN MISSOURI TO WESTERN
KENTUCKY AT 1830Z GENERALLY ALONG A WARM FRONT. THIS FRONTAL
BOUNDARY WILL GRADUALLY LIFT NORTH OVERNIGHT WITH THE BEST CHANCE OF
STORMS ALONG THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY. WE WILL KEEP LIKELY POPS OVER THE
NORTH WITH CHC POPS OVER THE SOUTH.

WE WILL HOLD ONTO CHC POPS FRIDAY AND SATURDAY WITH CAPES FROM 1500
TO 2500 EVEN WITH NO UPPER SUPPORT. A BRISK SOUTHWEST FLOW WILL WARM
TEMPERATURES INTO THE MID AND UPPER 80S BOTH DAYS.

THE BEST CHANCE FOR STORMS THIS WEEKEND WILL BE SATURDAY NIGHT AS A
STRONG COLD FRONT SWEEPS ACROSS THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY. ONCE THIS
FRONT MOVES THROUGH WE SHOULD SEE AN END TO THUNDERSTORMS FOR
AWHILE.

.EXTENDED NOTES...
POST-FRONTAL THERMAL TROF REMAINS IN PLACE OVER LMK FA THROUGH THE
FIRST HALF OF NEXT WEEK, WITH NO PCPN FORECAST UNTIL WEDNESDAY NIGHT
INTO THURSDAY ASSOCIATED WITH A WARM FROPA. IN COOL AIR ALOFT, SOME
BKN AFTERNOON CU POSSIBLE MONDAY, OTHERWISE A GENERALLY M/CLEAR SKY
CONDITION SHOULD SUFFICE. TEMPERATURES LOOK TO BE BELOW SEASONAL
NORMALS FOR A GOOD PART OF THE DAY 4-7 PERIOD.

.LMK...NONE.

XXV/XVI

Hazardous weather outlook, May 8, 2:45 PM EST, 4 hours 50 minutes before

INZ076>079-083-084-089>092-KYZ023>043-045>049-053>057-061>067-
070>078-081-082-091100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
345 PM EDT THU MAY 8 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL KENTUCKY AND SOUTH
CENTRAL INDIANA.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.
SURFACE LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE INTO THE UPPER MISSISSIPPI RIVER
VALLEY THIS EVENING, WITH A SURFACE WARM FRONTAL BOUNDARY MOVING
NORTHWARD ACROSS THE OUTLOOK AREA. THUNDERSTORMS WILL BECOME MORE
LIKELY THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS, WITH LARGE HAIL AND HIGH WINDS BEING THE PRIMARY
THREATS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.
THE PRESENCE OF WARM MOIST AIR OVER CENTRAL KENTUCKY AND SOUTH
CENTRAL INDIANA WILL PERSIST INTO THE WEEKEND, WITH THUNDERSTORMS A
DAILY THREAT. ANOTHER STRONG UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM WILL MOVE INTO THE
PLAINS SATURDAY, IMPACTING CENTRAL KENTUCKY AND SOUTH CENTRAL
INDIANA SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY MORNING WITH ANOTHER ROUND OF
STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTERS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT ANY
SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LOUISVILLE.

JA

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 8, 4:07 PM EST, 3 hours 28 minutes before

KYZ061-070>072-082136-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
507 PM EDT THU MAY 8 2003

THE TORNADO WATCH WHICH WAS IN EFFECT HAS BEEN CLEARED FOR THE
FOLLOWING COUNTIES:

IN SOUTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY
   BUTLER...WARREN...LOGAN AND SIMPSON

STUREY

The radar

The Louisville radar (KLVX), 72 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:37 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

1 hail, 1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Perry

When: May 8, 7:35 PM EST
Where: Perry County, Tell City
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.950, -86.767

Tornado, Perry

When: May 8, 7:45 PM EST to 7:51 PM EST
Where: Perry County, 5 mi SW of Gerald
Rating: F1
Path length: 3 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Property damage: $120,000
Reported by: LAW ENFORCEMENT
Coordinates: 37.950, -86.633

Numerous adult trees were uprooted in the Hoosier National Forest. A large tree fell on top of a mobile home which had been knocked over. There was extensive damage to a large homestead, and several outbuildings were leveled. Part of a large barn was demolished. The tin roof of another large barn was blown into some nearby trees. A piece of the porch from a large solid foundation house was thrown one quarter mile into a pond. The seam between the roof and walls of a cement foundation barn was separated.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Indiana in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Indiana, 2003 Warnings in Indiana, May 2003

Sources

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: 5354975, 5354976.