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 St. Louis, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 1, 1:30 AM CST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO 145 PM CDT THU JUL 31 2003 .DISCUSSION... AREA OF CONVECTION MOVING INTO EAST CENTRAL MO LOOKS LIKE IT HAS STOPPED DEVELOPING TO THE WEST. SHORT WAVE MOVG ACRS ALONG WITH WARM AIR ADVECTION TRIGGERING THE STORMS. BELIEVE THIS WILL ALL MOVE EAST WITH TIME LEAVING FRI AM DRY. MAY HAVE TO WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO DECIDE WHAT TO DO WITH ANY AM POPS DEPENDING ON PROGRESS OF STORMS. OTHERWISE MDLS IN FAIRLY GOOD AGREEMENT WITH OVERALL PATTERN. ETS IS PUSHING THE GREAT LAKES LOW FURTHER SOUTH WHICH MAY BE OVERDONE. FROM WHAT I HAVE SEEN THE AVN HAS BEEN MORE CONSISTENT WITH THE TRACK. HOWEVER THE AVN HOLDS ONTO PRECIP LONGER. PREFER THE ETA SOLUTION OF SHUTTING OFF THE PRECIP FROM N TO S ON SAT. 850 MB WIND SWINGS AROUNG TO NRLY BY 18Z ACRS MUCH OF THE CWA WHICH SHOULD PUSH PRECIP S. MDLS HINTING AT SOME SHOWERS FOR SAT NIGHT AND SUN ACROSS THE EASTERN AREAS. WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE SOME POP UP DUE TO THE CYCLONIC FLOW ASSOCIATED WITH THE UPPER LOW, BUT WILL KEEP CURRENT DRY FCST RUNNING SINCE I WOULD NOT INSERT MUCH MORE THAT A CHANCE POP ANYWAY. BEYOND THAT NW FLOW AT VIRTUALLY ALL LEVELS WILL KEEP CONDITIONS MILD AND DRY. AVN PRODUCES SOME WARN AIR ADVECTION PRECIP FOR TUE INTO WED ACRS SW MO AND TRIES TO MOVE IT NE. WILL KEEP THE CURRENT DRY FCST RUNNING AND LET ANOTHER SET OF MODLE RUNS GO TO SEE HOW THIS PREGRESSES. NOT MUCH CHANGE IN TEMPS FROM PREVIOUS FCST. && .LSX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... .MO...NONE. .IL...NONE.
ILZ058>060-064-065-069-070-074-079-095>102-MOZ018-019-026-027- 034>036-041-042-047>052-059>065-072>075-084-085-099-021100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ST LOUIS MO 600 AM CDT FRI AUG 1 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND EASTERN MISSOURI AND WEST CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ACROSS THE ENTIRE FORECAST AREA. THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT THIS AFTERNOON...AND ARE EXPECTED TO BECOME MORE ORGANIZED LATER TONIGHT. PRIMARY SEVERE THREATS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY THERE WILL BE CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS SATURDAY MORNING GENERALLY SOUTH AND EAST OF INTERSTATE 55 IN ILLINOIS AND INTERSTATE 44 IN MISSOURI. THE CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE FOR THE AFTERNOON ACROSS SOUTHEAST MISSOURI AND PARTS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS. SPOTTER ACTIVATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED ACROSS THE FORECAST AREA THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. && MORE INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED AT... HTTP://WWW.CRH.NOAA.GOV/LSX (ALL LOWER CASE) JPK
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck the clock tower at the Frontenac Hilton Hotel which caused a smoky fire in the roof. Guests were quickly evacuated from the second floor with no one injured.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Missouri in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Missouri, August 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: 5377670.