28 thunderstorm wind, 5 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 Louisville, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 10, 8:00 PM EST, 5 hours 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 900 PM EDT SAT MAY 10 2003 UPDATED ZONES TO REFLECT RELATIVE LATE EXPECTED ARRIVAL OF STRONG/SEVERE LINE OF STORMS. MUCH OF OUR FORECAST AREA (FA) SC INDIANA, NC KY AND EC KY REMAINS IN A HIGH RISK OF SEVERE. SC AND SE SECTIONS IN A MODERATE RISK. STRONG STORMS HAVE MOVED EAST OF CWA EARLIER THIS EVENING. LATEST SPC MESOANALYSIS HAS CONSIDERABLE CONVECTIVE INHIBITION OVER CENTRAL KENTUCKY IN THE WAKE OF THE STORM COMPLEX THAT MOVED OVER EXTREME NORTHERN KENTUCKY EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON. ATTM INDIVIDUAL SUPERCELLS/ BOW SEGMENTS HAVE MOVED INTO EXTREME SOUTHEAST MISSOURI AND SOUTHERN ILLINOIS. AS LOW LEVEL WINDS INCREASE AND VEER OVERNIGHT...BELIEVE INDIVIDUAL CELLS WILL FORM BROKEN LINES. MAIN THREAT WILL REMAIN STRAIGHT LINE DAMAGING WINDS...HOWEVER BRIEF TORNADOS POSSIBLE AT NORTHERN EDGE OF INDIVIDUAL BOW SEGMENTS. LINES OF STORMS OR SQUALL LINE EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO SOUTHWEST INDIANA AROUND MIDNIGHT AND RAPIDLY MOVE SOUTHEAST ACROSS CWA BY MORNING HOURS. WITH STRONG COLD AIR ADVECTION BEHIND FRONT...EXPECT BREEZY WEST WINDS SUNDAY. .LMK...NONE. DENMAN
INZ076>079-083-084-089>092-KYZ023>043-045>049-053>057-061>067- 070>078-081-082-111100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY 1030 PM EDT SAT MAY 10 2003 ...SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER EPISODE FORECAST TONIGHT... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL KENTUCKY AND SOUTH CENTRAL INDIANA. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. A SIGNIFICANT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER IS FORECAST FOR OVERNIGHT. THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER SAYS THERE IS A MODERATE RISK FOR SEVERE STORMS ALONG AND NORTH OF A BOWLING GREEN TO LEXINGTON LINE, WITH A SLIGHT RISK SOUTH OF THAT LINE. A STRONG COLD FRONT WILL APPROACH THE LOWER OHIO VALLEY DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. THUNDERSTORMS WILL ORGANIZE INTO A SQUALL LINE AHEAD OF THE COLD FRONT. THE SQUALL LINE SHOULD REACH THE INTERSTATE 65 CORRIDOR BY 3 AM EDT, AND CROSS THE BLUEGRASS REGION AFTER 3 AM EDT. DAMAGING WIND GUSTS AS HIGH AS 80 TO 90 MPH IN BOW ECHOES AND LARGE HAIL TO THE SIZE OF GOLFBALLS ARE THE PRIMARY THREATS. WIDESPREAD STRAIGHT-LINE WIND DAMAGE IS POSSIBLE WITH THIS LINE OF STORMS. ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE ALSO POSSIBLE WITHIN THIS LINE. THERE IS ALSO A GOOD POTENTIAL FOR FLOODING WITH THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS. THE STORMS WILL BE HEAVY RAIN PRODUCERS AND SOILS REMAIN NEARLY SATURATED OVER MANY LOCATIONS FROM PRIOR RAINFALL. SINCE THIS LOOKS TO BE A LATE NIGHT EVENT, YOU SHOULD ENSURE THAT YOUR NOAA WEATHER RADIO IS TURNED ON, OR LEFT IN ALERT MODE, SO THAT YOU CAN BE AWAKENED SHOULD SEVERE WEATHER APPROACH YOUR AREA. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND LOCAL MEDIA, OR VISIT WEATHER.GOV ON THE INTERNET, FOR FURTHER UPDATES AND ADDITIONAL DETAILS ON THIS POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER SITUATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SKYWARN SPOTTERS AND AMATEUR RADIO NETWORKS SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR ACTIVATION, PARTICULARLY TONIGHT. SPOTTERS AND LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS, ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SEVERE WEATHER OR FLOODING TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LOUISVILLE. SCHOLZ
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
28 thunderstorm wind, 5 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Two trees were blown on to houses. One tree was blown on to a car. Numerous other trees were downed in the area. Signs were bent on Buford Road.
Trees were downed.
Several roofs were blown off homes. Numerous trees were downed.
A tree was downed on Sunbeam Road. Other trees were downed in the Walnut Hill Cemetery and on Broadway.
Trees were downed.
Trees were downed.
Trees were downed.
Trees were downed.
The tornado formed southwest of Rineyville near Highway 1375. It then skipped across the countryside and reached the town of Rineyville. The tornado then moved about 3 miles northeast of Rineyville and dissipated. It did not appear to be on the ground for the entire duration. Embedded in the tornado path was significant straight line wind damage. An estimated 40 homes were damaged or destroyed. Many of the heavily damaged structures were mobile homes.
Trees and power lines were downed on Rineyville School Road.
Trees were blown down on to power lines.
Trees were downed.
Trees and power lines were downed.
Trees and power lines were downed.
Trees were downed.
Trees were downed.
Trees were downed.
Evidence of two brief tornado touchdowns was found embedded in a widespread area of straight line wind damage. The first tornado touchdown was in the Rowlette Street area, and the second was just outside Munfordville on Highway 357. The wind damage event then continued northeast out of town toward Glen Lily. Buildings in a three square block area in downtown Munfordville were damaged, including the Munfordville court house.
Thunderstorm wind destroyed a barn, ripped shingles off a house, and did unspecified damage to a car.
Trees were downed.
The tornado formed northwest of Harrodsburg as an F1 tornado. It moved east northeast and strengthened to an F2 as it moved to near Bohon Road. Between Bohon Road and US 127, high F1 to low F2 damage was observed. The tornado lifted east of highway 127 with no additional damage. A 29 year old female drowned when her mobile home on Bohon Road was blown about one hundred yards toward the Salt River. Forty homes in the area were damaged, and of these, 12 were destroyed.
Occupants of a mobile home were injured when it was turned over by thunderstorm winds.
Trees were downed and an outbuilding was destroyed.
Roofs were blown off three buildings.
Trees were downed.
Trees were downed.
Trees were downed.
Trees were downed.
Trees and power lines were downed.
Trees were downed. Some were blocking roads.
Numerous trees were down on the Garrard County side of the Garrard-Madison county line. The debris pattern indicated a tornado touchdown.
A barn was destroyed. Two homes, two greenhouses, and a garage were damaged. The debris pattern indicated a brief tornado touchdown.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tornado, Mercer | 2003-05-11 | 29 | Female | Mobile/Trailer Home | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kentucky in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Kentucky, 2003Warnings in Kentucky, May 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: 5356711, 5356776, 5355099, 5356777, 5356778, 5356779, 5356780, 5356792, 5356781, 5356793, 5356782, 5355100, 5355104, 5356783, 5356784, 5356785, 5356786, 5356787, 5357138, 5357140, 5355101, 5357139, 5356788, 5355105, 5356789, 5355102, 5355103, 5355106, 5355107, 5356790, 5356791, 5357141, 5357142.