A strong crosswind was believed to have caused a 45 year old Naponee woman to lose control of her vehicle, which then rolled down an embankment and struck a utility pole west of Bloomington. The driver was thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene.
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 episode as NWS GID wrote it up.
A strong crosswind was believed to have caused a 45 year old Naponee woman to lose control of her vehicle, which then rolled down an embankment and struck a utility pole west of Bloomington. The driver was thrown from the vehicle and died at the scene.
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 Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 28, 1:15 AM CST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 115 AM CST FRI MAR 27 2003 ...MAIN CHALLENGE WILL BE WINDS EARLY ON & TEMPERATURES THROUGHOUT... WV IMAGERY AND 00Z UAA DEPICT A RATHER IMPRESSIVE TROF. HWVR...ITS POSITIVE TILT NATURE HAS LED TO RATHER BENIGN WX ACROSS CWA...ASIDE FROM THE HOWLING NORTH WIND BEHIND ATTENDING COLD FRONT. MOISTURE SURGE IN ADVANCE OF THIS SYSTEM WILL BE FOCUSED THRU THE MIDWEST/WRN LAKES. AS FOR THE WIND...MTRS AROUND AREA ARE CURRENTLY SUSTAINED AT 25-30 W/ GUSTS TO 35/40 MPH ON AVERAGE. WITH INCREASED MIXING AFTER SUNRISE...THESE SPEEDS WILL LIKELY INCREASE BACK OVER WIND ADVISORY CRITERIA FOR MUCH OF DAY. APPEARS ENTIRE CWA WILL HAVE A SHOT AT MEETING THESE CRITERIA...SO WILL RE-ISSUE THE ADVISORY FOR ALL CNTYS. THANKS FOR COORD OAX. ANOTHER VIGOROUS VORT MAX IS DROPPING SSE FROM SC CANADA ON THE BACK SIDE OF CURRENT SYSTEM. GFS/ETA STILL IN VERY GOOD AGREEMENT W/ THIS SYS DROPPING THRU CWA TNGT W/ REINFORCING COLD AIR & A FEW FLURRIES. THIS SYSTEM WILL ALSO HELP KEEP WINDS UP INTO THE FIRST HALF OF SATURDAY AS WELL...ALTHOUGH NOT AS STRONG AS TODAY. THEREAFTER...RIDGING GRADUALLY BUILDS INTO THE CENTRAL PLAINS LATE WEEKEND INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK...WITH SPRINGLIKE TEMPS RETURNING BY MON/TUE TIMEFRAME. ONLY EYE-CATCHING THING IN THE CURRENT FCST IS LOW TEMPS THE NEXT FEW NIGHTS...WHICH ARE A FAIR AMOUNT ABOVE GUIDANCE. WILL LIKELY TREND THESE DOWN A BIT GIVEN DECENT CANADIAN HIGH PRES THAT SETTLES INTO AREA BEHIND TONIGHT/S VORTEX. OTHERWISE...TEMPS AT LEAST INTO THE 70S BY TUE/WED IN THE EXTENDED. WILL EITHER LEAVE FCST IN THE LOW/MID 70S ALONE OR EDGE THEM UP JUST A BIT. GFS SUGGESTS A GOOD RUN AT 80 BY MID NEXT WEEK...ASSUMING HI CLOUD COVER ISN/T TOO EXTENSIVE. .GID...WIND ADVISORY ENTIRE CWA TODAY. GURNEY
KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-281200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 801 AM CST THU MAR 27 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND PARTS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. * WIND ADVISORY...........SEE WWUS73 KGID - OMANPWGRI FOR DETAILS * AN INTENSE AREA OF LOW PRESSURE OVER NORTHERN KANSAS THIS MORNING... WILL MOVE INTO IOWA OVERNIGHT...WHILE HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN ACROSS THE CENTRAL ROCKIES. IN BETWEEN THESE SYSTEMS...STRONG NORTH TO NORTHWEST WINDS WILL STEADILY INCREASE THROUGHOUT THE DAY AND CONTINUE OVERNIGHT. WINDS GUSTS TO 50 MPH ARE POSSIBLE LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE REQUIRED. T
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strong Wind, Franklin | 2003-03-28 | 45 | Female | Vehicle/Towed Trailer | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Nebraska in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Nebraska, March 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: 5345567.