1 hail, 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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 5, 12:30 PM CST, 1 hour 2 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 130 PM CDT MON MAY 5 2003 FORECAST CHALLENGES CONTINUE TO BE CONVECTIVE CHANCES THROUGHOUT THE WEEK AND SEVERE WEATHER AND HEAVY RAINFALL TODAY...TONIGHT...AND TUESDAY. ATMOSPHERE OVER THE CWA PRIMED...READY...AND WAITING FOR CONVECTION TO BEGIN. STATIONARY FRONT TO REMAIN DRAPED TO THE NORTH AND WEST OF THE CWA KEEPING US IN A VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS. SOMEWHAT DRIER AIR IN THE LOW LEVELS HAS WORKED ITS WAY INTO THE WESTERN AND NORTHWESTERN SECTIONS OF THE CWA. THEREFORE...MOST UNSTABLE AIR OVER THE SE HALF OF OUR CWA SO EXPECT THE BEST CHANCES OF SEVERE WEATHER THERE. ON TUESDAY AS THE FRONT SLOWLY MOVES INTO THE CWA...THERE WILL ALSO BE AN ELEVATED RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER. CONSISTENT SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT...HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE SOUTHEAST US...AND THE PASSAGE OF PERIODIC UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES AND SURFACE BOUNDARIES WILL PROVIDE THE INGREDIENTS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH THE ENTIRE 7 DAY FORECAST PERIOD. PASSAGE OF THE DISTURBANCES AND BOUNDARIES WILL DETERMINE THE TIMING OF RW/TRW DEVELOPMENT. WILL KEEP THE MENTION OF PRECIP RW/TRW IN ALL PERIODS. .PAH...TORNADO WATCH #253 IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT FOR ALL OF SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND WESTERN KENTUCKY. JAP
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 1150 AM CDT MON MAY 5 2003 ...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER FOR ALL OF THE QUAD STATE TODAY AND TONIGHT... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND WESTERN KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT LATER THIS AFTERNOON A WEAK COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO DIP SOUTHWARD INTO THE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE REGION. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG THIS FRONT AND ANY OTHER BOUNDARIES THAT MAY REMAIN FROM THIS MORNINGS STORMS. THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR AN OUTBREAK OF SEVERE WEATHER FROM LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT. THE PRIMARY THREATS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...BUT AN ISOLATED TORNADO CANNOT BE RULED OUT. IN ADDITION... WIDESPREAD HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE POSSIBLE...ESPECIALLY ACROSS SOUTHEAST MISSOURI AND WESTERN KENTUCKY TONIGHT. GIVEN THE HEAVY RAINS THAT FELL YESTERDAY...FLASH FLOODING WILL ALSO BE A MAJOR CONCERN. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER TUESDAY ACROSS MUCH OF SOUTHEAST MISSOURI AND WESTERN KENTUCKY AS WELL AS FAR SOUTHERN ILLINOIS. A WEAK SURFACE BOUNDARY IS LIKELY TO BE DRAPED ACROSS THESE AREAS DURING THE DAY TUESDAY...AND WITH A VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS SOUTH OF THE BOUNDARY...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL ONCE AGAIN BE POSSIBLE. AT THIS TIME IT IS DIFFICULT TO DETERMINE THE GREATEST SEVERE THREAT...BUT DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL AND A FEW TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE. ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL MAY ALSO LEAD TO MORE FLASH FLOODING. THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS EACH DAY FROM WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR MORE SEVERE WEATHER AND HEAVY RAINFALL...BUT THE TIMING AND INTENSITY OF INDIVIDUAL EVENTS IS DIFFICULT TO DETERMINE AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE REQUIRED TODAY AND TONIGHT. DRS/JAP
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
834 AM CDT MON MAY 05 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1015 PM 3W JOPPA IL WIND DAMAGE
05/04/03 MASSAC DELAYED REPORT...AT LEAST
20 MATURE TREES DOWN.
ONE TREE FELL ON VEHICLE.
SOME MINOR ROOF DAMAGE.ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087-100- 107>112-114-051505- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 951 AM CDT MON MAY 5 2003 ...TORNADO WATCH #246 WILL EXPIRE AT 10 AM CDT... AT 955 AM CDT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAD MOVED OUT OF THE PADUCAH COUNTY WARNING AREA FOR NOW...THEREFORE THE TORNADO WATCH WILL BE ALLOWED TO EXPIRE. JAP
INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-051830- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 1230 PM CDT MON MAY 5 2003 ...TORNADO WATCH #253 IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM CDT FOR ALL OF SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND WESTERN KENTUCKY... THIS AFTERNOON A WEAK COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO DIP SOUTHWARD INTO THE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE REGION. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ALONG THIS FRONT AND ANY OTHER BOUNDARIES THAT MAY REMAIN FROM THIS MORNINGS STORMS. THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR AN OUTBREAK OF SEVERE WEATHER FROM LATE THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT. THE PRIMARY THREATS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...BUT AN ISOLATED TORNADO CANNOT BE RULED OUT. JAP
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
A severe thunderstorm moved northeast from Tennessee, passing across extreme southern Christian County. Dime size hail was reported at exit 86 of Interstate 24, and quarter size hail was reported in a weather observation from the Fort Campbell airfield.
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, 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: 5352645.