1 hail, 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 Wilmington, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 3, 2:00 PM EST, 4 hours 41 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 300 PM EDT SAT MAY 3 2003 SHORT WAVES PASSING N AND JUST S OF AREA OVERNIGHT. AT THE SURFACE...WEDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING DOWN THE COAST. WENT WITH HIGH CHANCE N FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDER TO LIKELY SC PORTION OF CWA. WENT WITH GFS MODEL FOR SUN...GIVEN STRENGTH OF WEDGE...EXPECT A DRY DAY. ETA TOO QUICK IN BREAKING DOWN THIS FEATURE. HIGH PRES ALOFT BUILDING ACROSS THE AREA SUN NIGHT INTO MON WHILE SFC HIGH REMAINS IN PLACE. HIGH PRESSURE MOVES OUT TO SEA ON MON AND BY AFTN AND ESPECIALLY AT NIGHT ONSHORE FLOW AND APPROACH OF STRONG SHORT WAVE/WARM FRONT WILL BE ENOUGH FOR AT LEAST SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. AREA WILL BE IN THE WARM SECTOR TUE AND WED SO ANY SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE SCATTERED. A FOCUSING MECHANISM COMING IN THE FORM OF A SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT FROM NW GETTING CLOSE ENOUGH LATE WED AND SO INCREASED POPS SLIGHTLY BEGINNING WED NIGHT. FRONT WILL ORIENT ITSELF W TO E AS IT STRUGGLES TO MOVE THROUGH AND S OF THE AREA ON FRI...BEFORE DISSIPATING. KEPT SAT DRY WITH HIGH PRES SITUATED ACROSS NORTHEAST AND RIDGING DOWN THE EAST COAST. PRELIMINARY NUMBERS... ILM 059/072 051/075 5112 LBT 056/073 050/076 5112 FLO 058/074 052/076 6113 MYR 060/073 054/074 6112 MARINE: COLD FRONT EXPECTED TO BE SOUTH OF THE WATERS TONIGHT... SIMILAR TO THE ETA/S POSITION. THINK THE NORTHERN WATERS WILL SEE SOME OF THE SURGE BEHIND THE FRONT CURRENTLY SPREADING OVER EASTERN NC. WEDGE BEGINS TO SET UP LATE SUN AND CONTINUES INTO EARLY MON RESULTING IN NE WINDS ACROSS THE WATERS. AS THE RIDGE OF HIGH PRES SHIFTS OFF THE MID-ATLANTIC COAST MON AND A WARM FRONT LIFTS NE ACROSS THE AREA...WINDS WILL VEER AROUND TO THE SE. RATHER STRONG SOUTHERLY FLOW WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THU WITH SOME STRONG LOW LEVELS WINDS IN PLACE AND A TIGHTENING SURFACE PRESSURE GRADIENT AHEAD OF NEXT COLD FRONT (EXPECTED TO MOVE THROUGH EARLY FRI). HOWEVER...PLAN ON KEEPING WINDS BELOW SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY LEVELS THROUGH THE FORECAST PERIOD. .ILM... .NC...NONE. .SC...NONE. PUBLIC: DIGIORGI MARINE: JAQ
NCZ087-096-099-100-SCZ017-023-024-032>034-039-046-031200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC 430 AM EDT SAT MAY 3 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA AND NORTHEAST SOUTH CAROLINA. .TODAY AND TONIGHT... SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK THAT SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE...WITH THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. .SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. KREITNER
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON NC
0740 PM EDT SAT MAY 03 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0738 PM MAXTON NC 1.00 IN HAIL
05/03/03 ROBESON REPORT FROM SKYWARN.
0730 PM ORRUM NC 0.75 IN HAIL
05/03/03 ROBESON SPOTTER REPORT ON BROAD
RIDGE ROAD BETWEEN ORRUM
AND PROCTORVILLE.
0722 PM PEMBROKE NC 0.88 IN HAIL
05/03/03 ROBESON PUBLIC REPORT VIA 911
CENTER.
RANThe Wilmington radar (KLTX), 87 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:40 UTC.
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Golfball size hail cause damage to the roofs of homes and cars on Broadridge Road and in Long Branch. A strawberry crop was completely destroyed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, 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: 5355273.