1 thunderstorm wind, 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 New Orleans, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 21, 9:45 PM CST, 1 hour 47 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS/BATON ROUGE LA
945 PM CST FRI FEB 21 2003
STRONG DYNAMICS REMAIN IN TACT FOR POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER OVER THE
NEXT SEVERAL HOURS FOR MUCH OF OUR CWA. SURFACE JUST SOUTHWEST OF NATCHEZ
MS WILL MOVE ENE DURING THE NIGHT AS THE UPPER LOW OVER CENTRAL
TEXAS BEGINS TO ACCELERATE ENE THRU LA/MS AS AN OPEN NEGATIVE TILT
TROUGH. THIS IS ALREADY TAKING PLACE WITH LOW LEVEL WINDS INCREASING
AS WELL AS THE STABILITY CONTINUING TO DECREASE. VERY HIGH
HELICITIES OF 500 OR MORE PERSIST OVER PORTIONS OF SE LA AND S MS AS
OF 9 PM THIS EVENING. THUS THE TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT
THROUGH 2 AM CST. LOW LEVEL WINDS FROM 2-5K ARE 50 KNOTS OR HIGHER
AHEAD OF THE SYSTEM. SATURATED SOILS ACROSS MUCH OF THE REGION FROM
THE NEW ORLEANS AREA NORTHWARD AND ADDITIONAL TSTMS POSSIBLE FOR THE
NEXT SEVERAL HOURS SUGGEST THE FLOOD WATCH SHOULD CONTINUE SINCE
HEAVY RAIN IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME COULD CAUSE LOCALIZED FLOOD
PROBLEMS. SOME RIVERS ARE IN FLOOD ALREADY AND OTHERS LIKELY TO GO
INTO FLOOD DURING THE NEXT DAY OR TWO. THESE RIVER WARNINGS ARE
COVERED UNDER SEPARATE BULLETINS.
.NEW...SMALL CRAFT ADVZY...COASTAL WATERS KPQL TO INTRACOASTAL CITY
INCLUDING LAKES PONTCHARTRAIN AND MAUREPAS.
LA...FLOOD WATCH LAZ034>040-046>050-056>070
MS...FLOOD WATCH MSZ068>071-077-080>082
05LAZ034>040-046>050-056>070-MSZ068>071-077-080>082-221300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...RETRANSMISSION... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA 100 PM CST FRI FEB 21 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST AND COASTAL MISSISSIPPI. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A STRONG UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE ALONG WITH AN ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT AT THE SURFACE IS EXPECTED TO MOVE THROUGH THE CENTRAL GULF COAST REGION LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUING THROUGH TONIGHT. NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE AHEAD OF THE APPROACHING FRONT. AS THE SURFACE LOW PUSHES EAST...AN ASSOCIATED PRE-FRONTAL TROUGH WILL SWEEP ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT. A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL IS EXPECTED ALONG THE PRE-FRONTAL TROUGH TONIGHT. THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. SOME STORMS MAY REACH SEVERE THRESHOLDS LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. A SIGNIFICANT DAMAGING WIND EVENT WITH A FEW STRONG TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE. THE GREATEST SEVERE WEATHER THREAT WILL OCCUR BETWEEN 5 PM LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND 3 AM SATURDAY MORNING. A FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA AND SOUTH MISSISSIPPI THROUGH TONIGHT. SOME AREAS NORTH OF BATON ROUGE AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST MISSISSIPPI HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED 3 TO 4 INCHES OF RAIN. IN ADDITION...A SWATH OF 2 TO 3 INCHES OF RAINFALL OCCURRED FROM SAINT CHARLES TO SAINT BERNARD PARISHES AND OVER PORTIONS OF SAINT TAMMANY PARISH. A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL IS EXPECTED ALONG THE PRE-FRONTAL TROUGH TONIGHT. ADDITIONAL RAINFALL OF 3 TO 4 WILL CAUSE EXCESSIVE RUN-OFF WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR FLASH FLOODING OVER RAIN SOAKED AREAS. ISOLATED STORM TOTALS THROUGH SATURDAY MORNING COULD REACH 6 TO 8 INCHES. MANY RIVERS ACROSS SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA AND SOUTH MISSISSIPPI ARE ABOVE FLOOD STAGE OR ARE EXPECTED TO RISE ABOVE FLOOD STAGE. PLEASE REFER TO RIVER FLOOD WARNINGS FOR EACH RIVER BASIN FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE TIDAL LAKES AND COASTAL WATERS IN ADVANCE OF THE FRONT TONIGHT AND CONTINUE BEHIND THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY SATURDAY. WINDS AND SEAS ARE EXPECTED TO DIMINISH ON SUNDAY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE BEHIND THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY SATURDAY. WINDS AND SEAS ARE EXPECTED TO DIMINISH ON SUNDAY. OTHERWISE...NO SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... THE ACTIVATION OF STORM SPOTTERS AND HAM RADIO OPERATORS...IN SUPPORT OF SEVERE WEATHER OPERATIONS...IS REQUESTED FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. LOCAL COUNTY AND PARISH EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT SHOULD BE PREPARED AND STAFFED FOR SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.
LAZ038>040-058-060>064-068>070-MSZ071-077-080>082-220550- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEW ORLEANS LA 1132 PM CST FRI FEB 21 2003 THE TORNADO WATCH ISSUED EARLIER FOR SOUTHWESTERN MISSISSIPPI AND SOUTHEAST AND SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES/PARISHES... WILKINSON...AMITE AND PIKE COUNTIES IN MISSISSIPPI POINTE COUPEE...WEST FELICIANA...EAST FELICIANA...EAST AND WEST BATON ROUGE...IBERVILLE...SAINT HELENA...LIVINGSTON...ASCENSION... ASSUMPTION...SAINT JAMES...TERREBONNE AND LAFOURCHE PARISHES IN SOUTHEAST AND SOUTH CENTRAL LOUISIANA THE TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 2 AM CST FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTH MISSISSIPPI AND PARISHES IN SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA... WALTHALL...HANCOCK...HARRISON AND JACKSON WASHINGTON...TANGIPAHOA...SAINT TAMMANY...SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST ...SAINT CHARLES...JEFFERSON...ORLEANS...PLAQUEMINES AND SAINT BERNARD DOPPLER RADAR AT 1125 PM CST INDICATED THE MAIN AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS HAD MOVED EAST OF THE CLEARED AREA. HOWEVER CONDITIONS STILL REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR THUNDERSTORMS...POSSIBLY A FEW BECOMING SEVERE...OVER EASTERN PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST LOUISIANA AND PORTIONS OF SOUTH MISSISSIPPI UNTIL 2 AM CST.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Numerous trees and power lines were blown down.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Louisiana in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Louisiana, February 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: 5345513.