1 heavy rain, 1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 5, 12:35 AM CST, 11 hours 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 135 AM CDT SAT JUL 5 2003 FORECAST CHALLENGE IS TYPICAL SUMMERTIME DAY TO DAY CONVECTION POSSIBILITIES. 05/00Z UPPER AIR ANALYSIS DEPICTED THE MAIN JET WELL NORTH OF THE AREA WITH AN UPPER RIDGE PARKED NEARLY OVER THE FORECAST AREA /FA/. THE TROPOSPHERE ACROSS THE FA IS RELATIVELY DRY COMPARED TO AREAS JUST TO OUR SOUTH AND NORTH. THE AXIS OF WARMEST 85H AND 7H TEMPS WAS TO THE NORTH JUST SOUTH OF THE MAIN SURFACE FRONT COINCIDENT TO THE MAIN UPPER JET. 7H TEMPS ACROSS THE FA WERE AROUND +10C. CONVECTION ON FRIDAY WAS CONFINED TO AREAS OUTSIDE THE FA...ALONG THE MAIN SURFACE BOUNDARY TO THE NORTH...AND IN THE AREA OF DEEPER MOISTURE TO OUR SOUTH AND SLIGHTLY COOLER 7H TEMPS TO OUR SOUTH. GUIDANCE AMONG THE GFS/ETA/NGM ALL ARE IN AGREEMENT FOR LOWER 7H TEMPS TODAY /AROUND +8C/ ALONG WITH MORE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE. BELIEVE THIS WILL PAINT A PICTURE FOR THE FA TODAY SIMILAR TO THE CONVECTION THAT FIRED FRIDAY OVER PORTIONS OF ARKANSAS EAST INTO PART OF WESTERN TENNESSEE AND NORTHERN MISSISSIPPI. AS FAR AS ANY UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT GOES...A VORTICITY AXIS IS PROGGED BY ALL THREE MODELS TO LIFT NORTH ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE FA DURING THE DAY. THIS WOULD SUGGEST A BETTER CHANCE OF CONVECTION ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF OF MY AREA TODAY. WILL KEEP THE 20 POPS NORTH AND INCREASE THE SOUTH TO A 30 POP. WILL HAVE AFTERNOON INTO LATE EVENING HOURS FOR THE PRECIP TIMING. MCSS RIDING ALONG THE SURFACE BOUNDARY TO THE NORTH SHOULD CONTINUE TO JUST MISS THE AREA TO THE NORTH. WITH BOTH 85H AND 7H TEMPS PROGGED TO BE ABOUT 2 DEG C COOLER THAN YESTERDAY...AND ALONG WITH THE PROBABILITY OF INCREASED CLOUD COVER TODAY...ANTICIPATE HIGHS TODAY TO BE ABOUT A CATEGORY LOWER THAN HIGHS REALIZED ON FRIDAY WITH WARMEST READINGS IN THE NORTHWEST. SUNDAY THE NORTHERN BRANCH JET DIPS A LITTLE FARTHER SOUTH AND AN ASSOCIATED SHORTWAVE TROUGH HAS A BETTER CHANCE OF BRINGING ORGANIZED CONVECTION TO MY NORTHEAST COUNTIES. ALSO...THE INFLUENCE OF THIS WAVE SHOULD HELP DRAW EVEN BETTER LOW LEVEL MOISTURE INTO THE AREA. IT HOWEVER ALSO LOOKS TO DRAW SLIGHTLY WARMER 7H TEMPS BACK INTO THE AREA...POSSIBLY CAPPING PARTS OF SEMO WITH 10-11 C TEMPS IF THE GFS IS CORRECT. WILL HAVE 20 POPS ACROSS SEMO WITH MID-RANGE CHANCE POPS ELSEWHERE WITH HIGHEST POPS IN MY NORTHEAST TO SOUTHEAST COUNTIES. WILL KEEP MONDAY PRECIP FREE FOR NOW AS 7H TEMPS ARE PROGGED TO INCH BACK INTO THE 10-12 DEG C RANGE. HOWEVER...ON TUESDAY A WEAK SYSTEM MAY SKIRT MY NORTHERN COUNTIES...AND 7H TEMPS VIA THE GFS ARE PROGGED TO BE COOLER...AROUND +8 C. WILL INTRODUCE A 20 POP SOUTH AND A 30 POP NORTH. WEDNESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY NIGHT A COLD FRONT IS PROGGED TO ENTER INTO AND PASS THROUGH THE AREA. ITS NOT THE NORM FOR COLD FRONTS TO MAKE IT THE WHOLE WAY THROUGH THE FA THIS TIME OF YEAR. WILL FAVOR A SOLUTION OF THE FRONT MAKING INTO THE AREA...THEN WASHING OUT SOMEWHERE OVER THE AREA. IF THIS PANS OUT...THURSDAY MAY HAVE SOME ISOLATED CONVECTION ALONG THIS STALLED BOUNDARY. WILL WAIT TO SEE WHAT 12 PLANET COLLABORATION FROM NEIGHBORING OFFICES YIELDS...EITHER PRO OR CON...BEFORE INTRODUCING THIS ON THURSDAY. .PAH...NONE. DFS
ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087-100- 107>112-114-061000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 500 AM CDT SAT JUL 5 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND WESTERN KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE IS A LOW CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS...PRIMARILY THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. A FEW OF THE STORMS MAY PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY RAIN. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY. THE PROBABILITY FOR WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
ILZ088>094-KYZ001>013-015>017-020>022-MOZ086-087-100-107>112-114- 051900- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 1157 AM CDT SAT JUL 5 2003 ...LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN POSSIBLE WITH THUNDERSTORMS TODAY... LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL...RANGING FROM THREE QUARTERS OF AN INCH TO AN INCH AND ONE HALF AN HOUR...WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH THE THUNDERSTORMS THAT HAVE DEVELOPED AND WERE LOCATED ACROSS SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...EXTREME SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...AND OVER WEST KENTUCKY. THROUGH 200 PM...LOOK FOR THE HEAVIEST RAIN TO STRETCH FROM BERNIE TO ORAN IN SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...AND FROM CAIRO ILLINOIS...EAST TO PADUCAH...SMITHLAND AND EDDYVILLE IN WEST KENTUCKY. THE RAIN ASSOCIATED WITH THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAY BRIEFLY OVERWHELM DRAINAGE SYSTEMS...CAUSING SMALL DITCHES AND STREAMS TO RISE SHARPLY...AND CAUSE PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS. SMALL CHILDREN SHOULD BE KEPT AWAY FROM SMALL DITCHES AND STREAMS WHERE HEAVY RAIN HAS RECENTLY FALLEN. IN ADDITION...DRIVERS SHOULD AVOID ROUTES WHERE WATER HAS PONDED OVER THE ROAD. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL TELEVISION AND RADIO...SHOULD THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO POSE A HEAVY RAIN HAZARD. SMITH
The Paducah radar (KPAH), 5 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 18:17 UTC.
1 heavy rain, 1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Numerous thunderstorms with very heavy rain caused some flooding of creeks and ditches, especially in the Lone Oak area. Champion Creek overflowed onto the intersection of Old Mayfield Road and Houser Road.
Lightning strikes started two fires in the Paducah area. A garage fire and a utility pole fire were reported.
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: 5368169, 5368168.