1 lightning, 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 Gaylord, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 17, 9:15 AM EST, 3 hours 41 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GAYLORD MI 1015 AM EDT THU JUL 17 2003 COLD FRONT HAS CLEARED EASTERN UPPER MICHIGAN AND NOW PRESSING THROUGH THE TIP OF THE MITT COUNTIES. FORCING CONTINUES TO INCREASE ACROSS NORTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN ON THE WARM SIDE OF FRONTOGENETIC MAX OVER LAKE SUPERIOR...INTERSECTING BAND OF CONDITIONALLY UNSTABLE MID LEVEL LAPSE RATES FROM NORTHERN WI ACROSS NORTHERN LOWER MI (QUITE A BIT OF ACCAS OVER THE AREA THIS MORNING). THUS...DESPITE RELATIVELY DRY ATMOSPHERE OVER THE REGION RADAR PLOTS SHOWING SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FLARING UP A BIT OVER WI AND NORTHERN LOWER MI PRIMARILY SOUTH OF A LINE FROM THE DOOR PENINSULA EASTWARD INTO CENTRAL LK HURON. QUESTION FOR THE AFTERNOON THEN BECOMES HOW MUCH SURFACE BASED INSTABILITY CAN BE GENERATED AHEAD OF THE FRONT TO AUGMENT ONGOING (ELEVATED) SHOWER/THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE AS THE FRONT PRESSES THROUGH NORTHERN LOWER MI. CURRENT TIMING BRINGS FRONT SOUTH INTO THE M-72 CORRIDOR THEN ACROSS ARENAC/GLADWIN COUNTIES BY 5 PM OR SO. MODIFIED SOUNDINGS AHEAD OF THE BOUNDARY WITH 78/64 SFC PARCEL GENERATING SBCAPES OF 1200 J/KG THIS AFTERNOON...AND LAPS PLOT ALREADY DEPICTING 500-1000 J/KG AS OF 9 AM. LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE WITH THE FRONT NOT OVERLY IMPRESSIVE BUT COMBINED WITH THE FRONTOGENETIC FORCING ALREADY OVER THE AREA PLAN ON KEEPING SCATTERED SHOWERS/TSTMS GOING THROUGH THE AFTERNOON FOR AREAS SOUTH OF M-72...AND EVEN LINGERING INTO THE EVENING IN THE EXTREME SOUTHERN COUNTIES. NORTH OF M-72...EXPECT SHOWERS/THUNDER TO BE RELATIVELY SHORT LIVED (ALREADY DONE IN E UPPER MI) AS THE FRONT SLIPS THROUGH BY EARLY AFTERNOON...AND WILL ADJUST GRIDS/ZONES ACCORDINGLY. SEVERE WEATHER DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE MUCH OF A THREAT THIS AFTERNOON WITH WIND FIELDS 35 KNOTS OR LESS THROUGH 500 MB AHEAD OF THE FRONT...AND WET BULB ZERO HEIGHTS RUNNING AROUND 12 K FEET. BUT OF COURSE WILL MONITOR THUNDERSTORMS DURING THE COURSE OF THE AFTERNOON. .APX...NONE. ADAM
MIZ008-015>036-041-042-181100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GAYLORD MI 1104 AM EDT THU JUL 17 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTHERN LOWER AND EASTERN UPPER MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS NORTHERN LOWER MICHIGAN THROUGH 700 PM...PRIMARILY SOUTH OF M-72. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BECOME SEVERE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY THERE IS A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS SUNDAY AND MONDAY...THEN AGAIN ON WEDNESDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. && MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT THE FOLLOWING URL: HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/APX (ALL LOWER CASE) ADAM
The NCL Michigan radar (KAPX), 70 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:54 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Two men were walking along a puddled trail in Bloomfield Township when lightning struck in the immediate vicinity. The two were knocked to the ground, and were treated at the scene by an EMS crew for cuts and scrapes.
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: 5379709.