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 Albuquerque, NM wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 2, 1:41 PM MST, 9 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 241 PM MDT SAT AUG 2 2003 MONSOON PLUME OVER ERN AZ/FAR WRN NM HAS SHIFTED FARTHER EAST AND HAS BECOME ORIENTED MORE N-S FROM FOUR CORNERS SOUTHWARD. SRN END OF PLUME GETTING SQUEEZED ACROSS NWRN MEXICO. THIS IN RESPONSE TO A MID- LEVEL TROUGH HEADING TOWARD SRN NV ALONG THE WRN PERIPHERY OF UPPER RIDGE. THIS FEATURE ALONG WITH THE DEEPENING GREAT LAKES TROUGH HAS FORCED THE LARGE SCALE RDG AXIS TO TAKE ON MORE OF A N-S ORIENTATION ALONG SPINE OF ROCKIES. RIDGE AXIS EXPECTED TO SHIFT OR LEAN A LITTLE FARTHER EAST ON SUNDAY WITH MAIN 500 MB HIGH CENTER SHIFTING OVER SE NEW MEXICO/W TEXAS. THIS SHOULD ALLOW THE DEEPER MOISTURE AT LEAST AT MID-LEVELS TO SPREAD FARTHER EWD INTO NRN NEW MEXICO THROUGH SUNDAY. NEARLY STATIONARY SURFACE BOUNDARY LAYING ACROSS THE NORTHEAST WILL ALSO PROVIDE A FOCUS FOR TSTMS TONIGHT BUT BECOMES DIFFUSE ON SUNDAY. OTHERWISE STEERING FLOW ALBEIT LIGHT REMAINS FAVORABLE TO CARRY STORMS INTO THE NE/NRN PARTS OF THE EC PLAINS. DRIER/MORE STABLE AIR MASS MAY WELL SPREAD INTO THE FOUR CORNERS REGION BY MONDAY BUT THE SWATH FROM NE TO SW COULD STILL SEE SCT ACTIVITY...THOUGH NOT AS ROBUST AS TODAY OR SUNDAY. HIGH ALOFT PARKED OVERHEAD EARLY PART OF THE WORK WEEK WITH ANOTHER WIND SHIFT INDICATED FOR THE NORTHEAST TUE/TUE NIGHT? WHERE THE HIGH CENTER ENDS UP WILL DICTATE TSTM COVERAGE BUT FOR NOW LOW GRADE POPS DURING THIS PERIOD REASONABLY WITH HOT/DRY CONDITIONS EXPECTED ACROSS THE SOUTHEAST. KJ PRELIMINARY NUMBERS... FARMINGTON................ 066/090 066/092 067 41544 GALLUP.................... 057/085 057/087 058 41645 GRANTS.................... 058/086 058/088 059 41645 GLENWOOD.................. 061/091 061/093 063 41534 CHAMA..................... 048/081 048/082 049 41655 LOS ALAMOS................ 055/082 055/083 057 41443 RED RIVER................. 045/076 045/077 047 41554 TAOS...................... 053/086 053/087 055 41544 SANTA FE.................. 054/087 054/088 057 41433 SANTA FE AIRPORT.......... 059/089 059/090 061 41423 ESPANOLA.................. 059/093 059/094 061 41423 ALBUQUERQUE HEIGHTS....... 069/093 069/094 071 41423 ALBUQUERQUE VALLEY........ 065/094 065/095 067 41312 ALBUQUERQUE FOOTHILLS..... 065/089 065/090 067 41423 ALBUQUERQUE WEST MESA..... 068/094 068/095 070 41312 SOCORRO................... 063/096 063/097 064 41211 SANDIA PARK/CEDAR CREST... 057/087 057/088 059 41433 MORIARTY/ESTANCIA......... 054/090 054/091 056 41322 CARRIZOZO................. 061/094 061/095 061 41211 RUIDOSO................... 054/087 054/087 054 41120 RATON..................... 054/090 054/091 055 41433 LAS VEGAS................. 053/088 053/089 056 41443 ROY....................... 057/090 057/091 059 41433 CLAYTON................... 063/094 063/094 063 41433 SANTA ROSA................ 065/097 065/097 066 41322 TUCUMCARI................. 069/098 069/098 069 41322 FORT SUMNER............... 066/097 066/097 066 41211 CLOVIS.................... 067/097 067/097 067 41211 PORTALES.................. 066/098 066/098 066 41211 ROSWELL................... 070/099 070/099 071 41100 .ABQ...NONE.
NMZ001>021-026-031200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBUQUERQUE NM 600 AM MDT SAT AUG 2 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH AND CENTRAL NEW MEXICO. .DAY ONE...TODAY THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT ACROSS NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL NEW MEXICO. THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD DEVELOP FIRST OVER THE EAST SLOPES OF THE SANGRE DE CRISTOS EARLY THIS AFTERNOON AND DRIFT SOUTHEAST DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS. THE MAIN THREATS WILL BE LARGE HAIL AROUND ONE INCH IN DIAMETER AND STRONG WIND GUSTS AROUND 60 MPH. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER...WEATHER CAN CHANGE VERY RAPIDLY. ALWAYS USE THE LATEST FORECASTS... WATCHES AND WARNINGS FOR PLANNING PURPOSES. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED BETWEEN 200 PM AND 1000 PM MDT FROM NEAR THE TAOS AND COLFAX COUNTY LINE TO SANTA ROSA...FORT SUMNER AND TO SOUTH OF PORTALES. CHJ
The Albuquerque radar (KABX), 203 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:49 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A 16 year female attending a church leadership outing in the Chuska Mountains died one day after being struck by lightning. A 15 year old male also sustained minor injuries.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning, San Juan | 2003-08-02 | 16 | Female | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in New Mexico in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in New Mexico, 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: 5337653.