1 tornado, 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 Mobile, AL wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 17, 1:50 PM CST, 4 hours 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 250 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 2003 ...NEWLY ISSUED TORNADO WATCH NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM ESSENTIALLY NW OF I-65... VERY ANOMALOUS UPPER FLOW PATTERN NEXT TWO DAYS AS UPPER LOW CUTS OFF AND RETROGRADES SSWD AND FILLS THROUGH MIDDAY MONDAY. IN THE MEANTIME...PLENTY OF LOW-LEVEL MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY AROUND TO FUEL MUCH NEEDED DEEP CONVECTIVE PCPN. ON THE FRONT END...WILL LIKELY SEE SCT TSTMS THROUGH LATE EVENING AS LEADING EDGE OF UPPER SYSTEM APPROACHES WHERE MID- AND UPPER TROPOS WIND FLOW IS DIVERGENT AND SYNOPTIC DEEP-LYR OMEGAS ARE OPERATING TO FURTHER DESTABILIZE LAPSE RATE...ALL IN CONJUNCTION WITH SFC-BASED CAPES IN THE 2800-3300 J KG-1 RANGE. NUMEROUS MESOSCALE OUTFLOWS WILL LINGER THROUGH SUNDAY ...ALONG WITH DEEP LYR MEAN SLY FLOW... TO ENSURE WDSPRD TSRASHRA EVENT ON SUNDAY. HEAVY RAINFALL MAY BE CAUSE FOR CONCERN SOME AREAS LATE TNT AND SUNDAY (MAINLY SW PORTION OF AREA) AS PCPN EFFICIENCY INCREASES. AS CUTOFF LOW FILLS AND MOVES INTO GLFMEX ON MONDAY...REGION REALLY REMAINS UNDER INFLUENCE OF LWAVE RIDGE (SW TX TO NE CANADA) UNTIL THU WHEN NEXT SFC FRONT ARRIVES IN DEVELOPING DEEP-LYR NW FLOW PATTERN. SCT POPS TO REMAIN UNTIL ARRIVAL OF WED FRONT THAT WILL BRING A SIGNIFICANT CHC OF WDSPRD RAINS WED EVE TIL LATE THU NIGHT. LOWER TROPOS NEG MOISTURE ADVECTION AND OFFSHORE WINDS WILL ABOUND FRI-SAT AS MAJOR LONGWAVE TROUGH DEVELOPS AND DRIVES WELL-DEFINED FRONT SEWD INTO GLFMEX. FRI AND SAT SHOULD BE BONE DRY...THUS HAVE REMOVED POPS. MARINE AND FIRE...NO CONCERNS PER COORD WITH SHORT-TERM FORECASTER. RIP CURRENT THREAT WILL REMAIN AS LONG AS ONSHORE WIND COMPONENT IS SUSTAINED. .PRELIMINARY TEMPS / POPS... MOBILE 73 84 72 85 72 / 50 70 50 PENSACOLA 75 85 73 85 74 / 40 70 50 DESTIN 76 84 75 84 74 / 20 50 30 EVERGREEN 71 87 69 86 68 / 50 70 60 WAYNESBORO 71 83 68 86 67 / 60 70 60 CAMDEN 70 86 67 86 67 / 60 70 60 23 MEDLIN .MOB... AL...NONE. FL...NONE. MS...NONE.
ALZ051>064-FLZ001>006-MSZ067-075-076-078-079-171700- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 430 AM CDT SAT MAY 17 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR INLAND SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI... SOUTHWEST ALABAMA...AND THE WESTERN FLORIDA PANHANDLE. .DAY ONE...(TODAY AND TONIGHT) A DEEP AREA OF LOW PRESSURE OVER WESTERN ARKANSAS WILL DRIFT SOUTH TO THE LOUISIANA COAST THROUGH SUNDAY. AS THE LOW NEARS SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BECOME BETTER DEVELOPED ACROSS MUCH OF THE CENTRAL GULF COAST REGION. DUE TO CONTINUED DRY AIR IN THE MID LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE COMBINED WITH MARGINALLY HIGH INSTABILITIES AT THE SURFACE SOME THUNDERSTORMS COULD BE STRONG TO SEVERE...ESPECIALLY OVER INLAND SECTIONS OF SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI. LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT. THERE WILL BE A MODERATE RISK FOR DANGEROUS RIP CURRENTS ALONG AREA BEACHES TODAY. SWIMMERS ARE ADVISED TO PAY CLOSE ATTENTION TO FLAGS POSTED ALONG BEACHES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...(SUNDAY THROUGH MONDAY) SCATTERED TO NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CAN BE EXPECTED ACROSS MUCH OF THE CENTRAL GULF REGION ON SUNDAY. LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT. A STRONGER WEATHER SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO AFFECT THE AREA BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. OTHERWISE...NO HAZARDOUS OR SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION FOR SEVERE WEATHER OPERATIONS SHOULD NOT BE NEEDED.
ALZ051>055-061-MSZ067-075-076-078-079-172115-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL
315 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 2003
A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI...
STONE...GEORGE...WAYNE...PERRY...AND GREENE.
A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES...
IN SOUTH ALABAMA...
CHOCTAW...WASHINGTON...CLARKE...WILCOX...MONROE...AND MOBILE.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 55 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.MSZ067-180015- THUNDERSTORM ADVISORY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MOBILE AL 615 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 2003 ...THUNDERSTORM ADVISORY FOR WAYNE COUNTY UNTIL 715 PM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A STRONG THUNDERSTORM 26 MILES WEST OF EUCUTTA...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. THE THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT AREAS IN AND NEAR... EUCUTTA THROUGH 715 PM CDT. THE PRIMARY THREATS FROM THIS STORM ARE STRONG WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. WIND GUSTS OF 35 TO 45 MPH COULD DOWN SMALL TREE LIMBS OR BRANCHES AND BLOW AROUND UNSECURED SMALL OBJECTS. FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING STRIKES ARE LIKELY. SEEK SHELTER IN A SAFE HOME OR BUILDING UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED. THIS STORM COULD PRODUCE RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF ONE TO TWO INCHES IN A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME...RESULTING IN BRIEF PONDING OF WATER AROUND LOW LYING AREAS. REMEMBER...DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO WATER COVERED ROADWAYS. THE DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW A SAFE CROSSING. A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM CDT SATURDAY EVENING FOR SOUTHWESTERN ALABAMA. A TORNADO WATCH ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 PM CDT SATURDAY EVENING FOR SOUTHEAST MISSISSIPPI.
The Mobile radar (KMOB), 117 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:24 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A weak tornado briefly touched down near Waynesboro, blowing down several trees.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Mississippi in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Mississippi, 2003Warnings in Mississippi, 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: 5358151.