2 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 Detroit, MI wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 1, 2:30 AM EST, 30 minutes earlier.
SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI 330 AM EDT THU MAY 1 2003 A FEW STORMS JUST NOW DEVELOPING IN WARM AIR SOUTH OF JACKSON. THEY HAVE BEEN SLOW TO DEVELOP AS THE LOW LEVEL THETA-E RIDGE WAS DRIVEN SOUTH ON THE HEELS OF THIS MORNINGS WAVE. RADAR TRENDS SUGGEST THAT OUR EARLIER MODIFIED FORECAST SOUNDING OF 73/58 WILL BE A GOOD PARCEL REPRESENTATION, AND GOOD ENOUGH FOR CONVECTION WORTH MONITORING THROUGH PEAK HEATING AS CAPE APPROACHES 1500 J/KG. THE ACCOMPANYING WIND PROFILE SHOWS WEAK SHEAR SO STORMS WILL BE PULSY WITH ONE OR TWO STILL CAPABLE OF HAIL APPROACHING SEVERE LIMITS FROM ANN ARBOR TO DETROIT AND POINTS SOUTH. THE SMALL UPPER WAVE OVER ILLINOIS/INDIANA HAS A STRONG SEGMENT OF THE UPPER JET TO ITS NORTHEAST. THE WAVE AND THE ENTRANCE REGION OF THE JET HAS LED TO BACKING LOW LEVEL FLOW AROUND 850 MB AND INCREASING SHOWER AND STORM ACTIVITY OVER SW LOWER MICHIGAN. THIS WILL BE THE PRIMARY FORCING MECHANISM TONIGHT AS THE SURFACE FRONT MOVES FARTHER INTO OHIO. THE LATEST RADAR TRENDS SUPPORT THE ETA MEAN RH FIELD AND USING THIS AS A GUIDE WILL GO WITH NUMEROUS SHOWERS OVER MOST OF THE AREA WITH SCATTERED THUNDER WORDING OVER THE SOUTH 2/3 FOR TONIGHT. FORECAST SOUNDINGS SHOW ELEVATED INSTABILITY TO BE ADEQUATE FOR AT LEAST SCATTERED STORMS. 850 TO 500 MB LAPSE RATES WILL RUN NEAR 6 C/KM FOR MUCH OF THE NIGHT FROM FLINT TO PORT HURON AND SOUTH, WITH 850 LI RUNNING FROM ZERO TO +2. SEVERE POTENTIAL IS VERY MINIMAL WITH THIS ACTIVITY AS WE LOSE DAYTIME HEATING. MODEL TRENDS HAVE BEEN LESS THAN SOLID ON THE PATTERN FOR FRIDAY, BUT AS LONG AS THERE IS A WAVE SHOWN TO BE INTERACTING WITH THE 850 TO 700 MB FRONTAL ZONE THEN THERE WILL BE A CHANCE OF SPRINKLES/ LIGHT RAIN AND SHOWERS AROUND SE MICHIGAN. FOR NOW WILL HAVE A CHANCE OF LIGHT RAIN IN THE SAGINAW VALLEY AND THUMB AND SHOWERS NEAR THE OHIO BORDER, CLOSER TO THE 850 MB FRONT AND WHERE MOISTURE WILL BE A LITTLE DEEPER. A SHORT WAVE RIDGE AND SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD INTO THE AREA FRIDAY NIGHT MAKING SKY CONDITION AND TEMPS THE ONLY CONCERN. SURFACE TEMPS ARE CURRENTLY IN THE UPPER 30S NORTH OF LAKE SUPERIOR WITH A LOT OF EARLY MAY SUN. THIS AIR MASS WILL MOVE SOUTH WITH THE SURFACE RIDGE TOMORROW NIGHT WITH LOWS AT LEAST IN THE MID 30S LOOKING GOOD AFTER SOME MODIFICATION. HIGH PRESSURE WILL REMAIN IN CONTROL OF THE WEATHER IN OUR AREA THROUGH THE WEEKEND, BUT WILL LOSE ITS GRIP SUNDAY NIGHT AS THE NEXT LOW MOVES INTO THE PLAINS. THERE IS GOOD AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GFS AND EURO MODELS ON THE POSITION OF THE UPPER LOW OVER WISCONSIN/IOWA BY MONDAY. THE CANADIAN IS FASTER AND MORE OPEN OVER ONTARIO. THERE IS A LOT OF SPREAD IN THE NCEP ENSEMBLE ON BOTH TIMING AND STRENGTH BUT THE MEAN WEAKLY SUPPORTS THE GFS. WELL KEEP THE CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND STORMS IN THE FORECAST FOR MONDAY AS WARM ADVECTION OCCURS IN ADVANCE OF THE SYSTEM AND THEN AS THE LOW MOVES THROUGH LOWER MICHIGAN ON TUESDAY. UNCERTAINTY INCREASES ON WEDNESDAY REGARDING THE EXIT OF THE LOW TO OUR EAST. THE GFS IS A LITTLE SLOWER ON THE TIMING AND THE ENSEMBLE MEAN IS SLOWER YET, BUT WITH A TON OF SPREAD IN THE MEMBERS. GIVEN THE PROGRESSIVE NATURE OF THE SYSTEM ON MONDAY AND TUESDAY, AND CONSIDERING THAT ANOTHER TROF MAY DIG INTO CENTRAL CANADA AS A KICKER, WILL GIVE THE GREAT LAKES SYSTEM A CHANCE TO EXIT IN TIME FOR A DRY WEDNESDAY. CONFIDENCE IS HIGHER THAT THURSDAY WILL BE DRY AS HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS INTO THE AREA, EVEN CONSIDERING AN EVENTUAL SLOWER SOLUTION ON THE EXIT OF THE LOW ON WEDNESDAY. .DTX...NONE. EXPERIMENTAL GRAPHICAL FORECASTS ARE AVAILABLE ONLINE AT HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DTX (ALL LOWER CASE) BT
MIZ047>049-053>055-060>063-068>070-075-076-082-083-011200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DETROIT/PONTIAC MI 553 PM EDT WED APR 30 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST LOWER MICHIGAN. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT THERE IS A CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT OVER ALL OF SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN. THE HAZARDS WILL BE DAMAGING WIND AND LARGE HAIL ALONG AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM FLINT TO PORT HURON...AND PRIMARILY HAIL OVER THE SAGINAW VALLEY AND THUMB. THE BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE AFTER 9 PM AND LAST THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS AS STORMS MOVE EAST AT 35 MPH. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT ALL OF SOUTHEAST MICHIGAN THIS EVENING...AND THEN BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD AS WARMER AND MORE HUMID AIR MOVES INTO THE AREA OVERNIGHT. EARLY STORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PEA SIZED HAIL AND HEAVY DOWNPOURS OVER THE ENTIRE AREA. STORMS LOCATED NEAR THE OHIO STATE LINE WILL BE CAPABLE OF PENNY SIZED HAIL THIS EVENING. STORMS WILL BECOME MORE INTENSE AND WIDESPREAD DURING THE LATE EVENING AND OVERNIGHT HOURS AS A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM AND WARM FRONT MOVE INTO LOWER MICHIGAN. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS...ALONG AND SOUTH OF A FLINT TO PORT HURON LINE...WILL BE CAPABLE OF WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH AND HAIL TO 1 INCH. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE NORTH OF THIS LINE THROUGH THE SAGINAW VALLEY AND THUMB...WITH HAIL TO 1 INCH. PEAK WIND GUSTS HOWEVER MAY ONLY BE UP TO 40 MPH. HEAVY RAINFALL IS ALSO POSSIBLE WITH SOME OF THESE STORMS...LEADING TO MINOR FLOODING IN LOW LYING AREAS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THUNDERSTORMS...A FEW POSSIBLY SEVERE...WILL LINGER INTO THURSDAY AS LOW PRESSURE TRACKS EAST OF THE AREA. A COLD FRONT WILL THEN PROGRESS SOUTH THROUGH THE REGION DURING THE MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON. THE FRONT WILL BE SOUTH AND EAST OF OUR AREA BY LATE AFTERNOON AND WILL TAKE THE CHANCE THUNDERSTORMS ALONG WITH IT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED TONIGHT. && STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS...FOR THE LATEST FORECAST INFORMATION FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. YOU CAN ALSO OBTAIN THE LATEST FORECAST ON THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEB SITE HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/DTX/ (ALL LOWER CASE) BT
The Detroit radar (KDTX), 58 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 08:00 UTC.
2 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck the roof of a two-story home. This caused the roof and a bedroom above an attached garage to catch on fire.
The post office on Trumball Street was closed for much of the day after lightning stuck the roof and caused the building's telephone lines and computer systems down.
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, 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: 5354838, 5354905.