2 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 2 heavy rain, 1 flash flood, 1 funnel cloud, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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 Jul 21, 1:55 AM CST, 4 hours 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 255 AM CDT MON JUL 21 2003 GFS CONTINUES TO BE THE CONSISTENT AND PREFERRED APPROACH TO HANDLING THE INCOMING FROPA AND ASSOCIATED POPS. ALSO IT HAS BEEN CONSISTENT AND HAD A BETTER HANDLE ON THE POST FRONTAL BUT PRE LONG WAVE TROF POP FOR TUE. WL THEREFORE MAINTAIN AN OVERALL GFS BIAS TO THE FORECAST...WHICH WL LIKEWISE MAINTAIN GOING FORECAST STRATEGEM. RESULT WL BE FRONTAL ASSOCIATED POPS TODAY...HIGHEST NE AND LOWEST SW. GFS HAS FRONT ON OH RIVER AROUND 00Z TUE AND MOVES IT THRU ENTIRE FA MON NIGHT...SO FRONTAL POPS WL TAPER OFF W-E THEN. HOWEVER GFS INSISTENT ON MON NIGHT MCS DEVELOPMENT OVR MO COMING IN FROM THE W...SO WL INTRODUCE INCREASING POP FM W-E LATE MON NIGHT INTO TUE...AS POTENT DYNAMICS FUEL CONTINUING POP EVEN INTO EARLY TUE NIGHT...ENDING W-E AS MAIN LONG WAVE FINALLY SCOOTS FAR ENUF EAST. OTHERWISE LTL CHANGE TO GOING PACKAGE W/STILL SEASONALLY COOLER/DRIER AIR IN STORE FOR LONG TERM. HOWEVER WL INTRODUCE DAY7 POPS PER PREVIOUS DISCUSSION AND NEW MRF/MEX DATA WHICH LEADS US THERE...W/BOTH SURFACE FRONT AND UPR TROF PASSING OVER LOWER OH VALLEY. W/GFS PREFERENCE WL BIAS TEMPS TOWARD MAV MOS NOS THRU PACKAGE...INCLUDING NOTABLY COOLER TUE TEMPS DUE TO EXPECTED CONVECTIVE CHANCE. .PAH...NONE.
ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087-100- 107>112-114-220915- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 435 AM CDT MON JUL 21 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND WESTERN KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE ENTIRE FOUR-STATE REGION TODAY AND THIS EVENING. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK THAT SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE. A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL PUSH INTO THE REGION TODAY...THEN SOUTH OF THE AREA AROUND MIDNIGHT. UNTIL THEN...THE THREAT FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL PERSIST. BOTH DAMAGING WINDS AND MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE. THE GREATEST RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER APPEARS TO BE EAST OF THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER. THUNDERSTORM MOVEMENT TO THE EAST EARLY IN THE DAY WILL GRADUALLY TRANSITION TO THE SOUTHEAST BY AFTERNOON. STORM SPEED WILL AVERAGE 25 MPH...BUT MAY BE GREATER FOR SEVERE STORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY AFTER A BRIEF REPRIEVE FROM THE SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY... ANOTHER CHANCE WILL ROLL IN ON TUESDAY IN ASSOCIATION WITH AN UPPER-LEVEL DISTURBANCE BEHIND THE FRONT. WHILE WIDESPREAD SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT ANTICIPATED...SOME OF THE STORMS COULD PRODUCE MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL. LATE IN THE FORECAST PERIOD...THERE IS ANOTHER CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS NEXT SUNDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUESTED TODAY AND THIS EVENING. RJP
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
700 AM CDT MON JUL 21 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0655 AM OAKLAND CITY IN 60 MPH WIND GUST
07/21/03 GIBSON PEA SIZE HAILThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, 2 heavy rain, 1 flash flood, 1 funnel cloud. Local standard time, as filed.
At a residence on Kentucky 136 in Geneva, three huge oak trees and numerous other large tree limbs were blown down. The roof of the house was damaged. In the city of Henderson, a couple of trees and a power line were down.
Rainfall amounts during the morning were estimated from 4 to 5 inches by radar. A measurement of almost 4 inches was reported in Owensboro. The worst flooding was reported along U.S. Highway 60 from Owensboro east to the county line.
Two-inch diameter hailstones were reported near Crofton. Half-dollar size hail fell three miles north-northeast of Hopkinsville.
Quarter-size hail damaged a sheriff's car in Kelly.
A funnel cloud was reported along the Christian/Todd County line near Pilot Rock. The storm showed strong rotation on doppler weather radar.
Persistent thunderstorms produced heavy rain, estimated as much as 1 to 3 inches over the east and southeast sides of the county. Water was over a local road in the eastern part of the county.
Numerous tree limbs and a tree were blown down.
Water was reported over the road at the intersection of Highways 181 and 171.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kentucky in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Kentucky, July 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: 5367526, 5367525, 5365936, 5367520, 5367521, 5367523, 5367522, 5367524.