An area of thunderstorms moved through Frederick County during the late evening of the 24th and the early morning hours of the 25th. 5 inches of rain caused many roads to be flooded, including routes 15, 85, and 355.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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 episode as NWS LWX wrote it up.
An area of thunderstorms moved through Frederick County during the late evening of the 24th and the early morning hours of the 25th. An estimated 1.5 inches of rain caused many roads to be flooded, including routes 15, 85, and 355.
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 Baltimore/Washington wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 24, 9:45 PM EST, 1 hour earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 1045 PM EDT SAT MAY 24 2003 SHRA/TSRA STILL ARND. WILL UPDATE ALL ZONES FROM DC NORTHWARD TO INCLUDE PRECIP MENTION. RADAR IS DOWN. PART ON ORDER...BUT SYSTEM WILL LIKELY BE OUT OF SERVICE THROUGH AT LEAST SUNDAY MORNING. RDH PREV DISC... ----------------------------------------------------------- CONVECTION OVR NWRN ZONES REFUSING TO DIE. SFC HTG IN THE W THIS AFTN PROVIDED ENOUGH INSTAB TO GENERATE SHRA/TSRA ALG STNRY FNT. 18Z GFS ALSO SHOWING SOME WEAK S/W ENERGY PASSING THROUGH THIS EVENING...HELPING TO KEEP ACTIVITY GOING. ORIENTATION OF ECHOES IS A LTL DISCOMFORTING. CELLS ARE TRAINING NELY. WILL HAVE TO MONITOR FOR FLOODING. STREAMS ARE HIGH AND THE SOIL IS MOIST. HOPEFULLY WITH LOSS OF DAYTIME HTG THINGS WILL BEGIN TO SIMMER DOWN. WILL EXTENDED EVENING POPS A LTL LONGER WHERE RAINS ARE STILL FALLING. GFS ALSO HINTS AT SOME REDEVELOPMENT OF ACTIVITY SERN ZONES IN THE MORNING. WILL REMOVE MENTION OF AFTN TIMING THERE...BUT WILL LET MID SHIFT DECIDE IF HIER POPS ARE NEEDED. ALLS QUIET ON THE MARINE SIDE. AIRPORTS LIKELY TO EXPERIENCE VSBY REDUCTIONS OVERNIGHT DUE TO FOG. RDH .LWX... DC...NONE. MD...NONE. VA...NONE. WV...NONE. MARINE...NONE.
DCZ001-MDZ002>007-009>011-013-014-016>018-VAZ021-025>031-036>042- 050>057-WVZ048>055-250900- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BALTIMORE MD/WASHINGTON DC 1030 AM EDT SAT MAY 24 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MARYLAND WEST OF THE CHESAPEAKE BAY AND EAST OF GARRETT COUNTY...THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA...NORTHERN VIRGINIA...THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL SHENANDOAH VALLEY...AND THE EASTERN PANHANDLE OF WEST VIRGINIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Many roads were closed by flooding.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Maryland in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Maryland, 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: 5370093.