1 high wind, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 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 Grand Rapids, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 15, 3:19 AM EST, 2 hours 6 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI 415 AM EDT TUE JUL 15 2003 LINE OF STRONG/SVR TSTMS MOVING RAPIDLY E/SE THROUGH SRN WI EARLY THIS MORNING SHOULD FOLLOW THICKNESS CONTOURS AND MOVE/DEVELOP SE MORE TOWARD CHICAGO AND SOUTH BEND THROUGH DAYBREAK. THEREFORE IT APPEARS SW MI MAY DODGE A BULLET...ALTHOUGH THIS WILL NEED TO BE CLOSELY MONITORED AS MORE OF AN EWD MOVEMENT COULD MEAN ACTIVE WX FOR AREAS SOUTH OF HOLLAND. MAIN THREAT ATTM APPEARS TO BE WINDS BELOW SVR LIMITS... PROBABLY 40 TO 50 MPH ALTHOUGH INTENSE LIGHTNING IS ALSO OCCURRING WITH THESE STORMS. WILL ALSO HAVE TO WATCH FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF HEAVY RAINFALL ALONG THE I94 CORRIDOR WHERE TRAINING/BACKBUILDING OF CELLS IS POSSIBLE WITH 850 MB JET OF 40-50 KNOTS FEEDING IN FROM THE SOUTHWEST. MAIN PROBLEM FOR TODAY IS COVERAGE AND TIMING OF PCPN ACROSS THE CWFA. WILL START THE DAY WITH CATEGORICAL POP WORDING OVER MUCH OF THE CWFA AS THE MCS AFFECTS THE AREA. THEN ONCE THE LOW LEVEL JET DIMINISHES AND PULLS AWAY BY MID MORNING...ACTIVITY WILL LIKELY BE JUST SCATTERED AT BEST. ACTUALLY...PCPN SHOULD COMPLETELY END IN THE WRN CWFA WITH FROPA AND DRY SLOT...SO WILL HAVE SKIES TURNING PARTLY SUNNY THERE. SVR THREAT FOR THE ERN CWFA WILL BE HIGHLY DEPENDANT ON HOW QUICK MCS DEBRIS CLOUDS GET OUT OF THE WAY AND THE TIMING OF THE FRONT...BUT IT APPEARS LIKE BEST ACTIVITY WILL DEVELOP JUST EAST/SOUTHEAST OF THE CWFA. ETA HAS CAPES REACHING NEAR 2500 J/KG AROUND JXN THIS AFTERNOON...AND WITH 70 KNOT 500 MB SPEED MAX APPROACHING...THIS MAY BE A CLOSE CALL. SURFACE HIGH BEHIND THE FRONT TO PROVIDE DRY WX WITH MOSTLY CLEAR SKIES FOR TONIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. NICE 850 MB THETA-E AND THERMAL RIDGE NOSES INTO THE AREA ON THURSDAY FROM THE WEST...AHEAD OF A SURFACE BOUNDARY SLIPPING SOUTH THROUGH NORTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN. THIS SUPPORTS A CHANCE OF SHOWERS/TSTMS...ALTHOUGH MODEL QPF/S APPEAR TO BE FAVORING THE ERN CWFA WHERE THE BEST SURFACE CONVERGENCE IS PROGGED. MEADE EXTENDED FORECAST DISCUSSION... WITH A RIDGE OVER THE WEST AND TROUGHING OVER THE EAST...THE GREAT LAKES REGION WILL BE UNDER PREDOMINATELY NORTHWEST FLOW THROUGH THE EXTENDED PERIOD. THEREFORE...THE MAIN CHALLENGE WILL BE THE TIMING OF THE SHORT WAVE SYSTEMS MOVING WITH THE FLOW. CONFIDENCE IS LOW AS MODELS HAVE NOT BEEN CONSISTENT. WILL FOLLOW THE GFS WITH SOME TINKERING. LOOKS LIKE ONE WAVE WILL MOVE BY TO THE WEST LATE FRIDAY. THIS FEATURE DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE VERY VIGOROUS AND HAS LITTLE MOISTURE. WILL INCREASE CLOUD COVER A LITTLE AND ADD ISOLATED WORDING INTO SATURDAY. ANOTHER SYSTEM WILL MOVE OVER THE REGION LATE SATURDAY AND CONTINUE TO AFFECT LOWER MICHIGANS WEATHER THROUGH SUNDAY. MOISTURE LOOKS MORE ABUNDANT AND THERE SEEMS TO BE GREATER STRENGTH WITH THIS WAVE. HOWEVER DUE TO LOW CONFIDENCE...WILL ONLY GO WITH LOW CHANCE POPS AND MOSTLY CLOUDY SKIES. MONDAY WILL BE BETWEEN SYSTEMS AND THE SKIES SHOULD BE PARTLY CLOUDY. IOD .GRR...NONE.
MIZ037>040-043>046-050>052-056>059-064>067-071>074-161000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND RAPIDS MI 620 AM EDT TUE JUL 15 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE SOUTHWEST QUARTER OF LOWER MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH GUSTY WINDS TO 50 MPH AND INTENSE LIGHTNING OVER SOUTHERN LAKE MICHIGAN AT 6 AM WILL MOVE ONSHORE SOUTH OF SOUTH HAVEN BY 7 AM. THESE STORMS WILL QUICKLY EXIT THE AREA BY 8 AM AS THEY MOVE TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 40 MPH. OTHERWISE SCATTERED SHOWERS WILL AFFECT THE REST OF SOUTHWEST MICHIGAN EARLY THIS MORNING. ADDITIONAL SCATTERED THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS EXPECTED TO OCCUR TOWARD NOON EAST OF HIGHWAY 131... AHEAD OF AN EASTWARD MOVING COLD FRONT. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL CANNOT BE RULED OUT IN THE LANSING AND JACKSON AREAS BEFORE THE FRONT EXITS THE AREA AROUND 5 PM. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ON THURSDAY...THEN AGAIN ON SATURDAY AND SUNDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON FOR THE AREA EAST OF HIGHWAY 131. MEADE
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
A non-convective measured wind gust to 56.2 knots was recorded at the Saugatuck observing station.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Michigan in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Michigan, 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: 5368816.