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 Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 18, 2:00 PM CST, 8 hours earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 200 PM CST TUE NOV 18 2003 .DISCUSSION... MODELS ARE HANDLING ONGOING PRECIP PRETTY WELL. WILL GO WITH LIKELY POPS FOR ENTIRE AREA THIS EVENING WITH SCATTERED SHOWERS AND STORMS ALREADY DEVELOPING BEHIND MAIN INITIAL AREA OF PRECIP...THEN EXPECT PRECIP TO TAPER OFF OVER WESTERN PORTIONS OF FORECAST AREA BY AROUND MIDNIGHT. ISOLATED SEVERE STORMS NOT OUT OF THE QUESTION INTO THE EVENING HOURS WITH COLD AIR ALOFT...AND WITH STORMS CURRENTLY PRODUCING LARGE HAIL IN SOUTHWEST MISSOURI. SPC HAS SOUTHERN THIRD OF FA IN DAY 1 SLIGHT RISK. BEST INSTABILITY SHOULD BE SOUTH OF THE AREA ALONG THE FRONT BY MID TO LATE EVENING. AS FOR PRECIP ENDING...AVN IS STILL A LITTLE SLOWER THAN THE ETA AND MESOETA...NOT TAKING PRECIP OUT OF THE AREA UNTIL EARLY WEDNESDAY. ETA IS TRENDING SLOWER...COMING MORE IN LINE WITH THE AVN...AND WILL CONTINUE TO LEAN TOWARD SLOWER AVN AND KEEP LOW CHANCE POPS INTO WEDNESDAY MORNING FOR EASTERN PORTIONS OF AREA. THINGS DRY OUT QUICKLY BEHIND THIS SYSTEM ON WEDNESDAY AND WE SHOULD SEE PLENTY OF SUNSHINE. HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING TO OUR SOUTH WILL PROVIDE QUIET AND MILD WEATHER INTO SATURDAY. IN THE EXTENDED...AVN BRINGS NEXT SYSTEM INTO THE REGION SATURDAY NIGHT INTO SUNDAY. BACKED OFF ON POPS FOR EASTERN PORTIONS OF FA SATURDAY NIGHT...OTHERWISE OVERALL TIMING OF POPS FOR SUNDAY INTO SUNDAY NIGHT STILL LOOKS GOOD. MRF SHOWS A COLD FRONT JUST TO OUR WEST BY 00Z WEDNESDAY...BUT FOR NOW WILL JUST INCREASE CLOUDS ON TUESDAY AND CONTINUE TO WATCH TIMING OF THIS NEXT SYSTEM. FWC HIGHS RUNNING A LITTLE WARMER AND LOWS ARE RUNNING A LITTLE COOLER THAN MAV GUIDANCE. BASICALLY USED A COMPROMISE OF FWC/MAV VALUES. IN THE EXTENDED...WENT FAIRLY CLOSE TO MEX VALUES THROUGH SUNDAY MORNING. WENT WARMER ON SUNDAY WITH SOUTHWEST WINDS MOST OF THE DAY...AND STAYED ABOVE GUIDANCE THROUGH TUESDAY MORNING. LATEST MEX RUN DROPPED TEMPS OVER THAT TIME PERIOD QUITE A BIT FROM THE PREVIOUS RUN...SO PREFER TO JUST TREND VALUES BACK A LITTLE AND SEE HOW THINGS GO. && .PAH WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... KY...NONE. MO...NONE. IL...NONE. IN...NONE. && RST
ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087-100- 107>112-114-191100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY 710 PM CST TUE NOV 18 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...SOUTHERN ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND WESTERN KENTUCKY. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY THIS EVENING ACROSS THE ENTIRE QUAD STATE REGION. IN ADDITION...THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TONIGHT...IN THE SOUTHERN MOST TIER OF COUNTIES OVER SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...AND WEST KENTUCKY. THE PRIMARY THREAT WILL BE LARGE HAIL WITH ANY STORMS THAT DO BECOME SEVERE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE AGAIN THIS COMING SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED TONIGHT. JAP/KH
The Paducah radar (KPAH), 107 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 04:01 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A commercial building was destroyed by a fire that was believed to have been started by lightning. Two discount stores were located in the building on Highway 25.
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, November 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: 5336573.