14 thunderstorm wind, 5 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 Cleveland, OH wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 20, 1:20 PM EST, 2 hours 39 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 220 PM EDT SUN APR 20 2003 IN SHORT TERM INTO TUE NO SIGNF CHNGS TO PREV FCST. TSTMS OVR CNTRL IN AT MID AFTN NR CDFNT WL MOV INTO CWA THIS EVNG. CURRENTLY OUTLOOK BY SPC FOR PSBL SVR WX OVR MUCH CWA AND THIS LKS GOOD BASED ON FCST CAPE/SHEAR ETC ERY TNGT. LKLY TO SEE CURRENT WATCH OVR IN EXTD INTO PTN NW OH LATE AFTN. WL INCLUDE MNTN OF PSBL SVR FOR MOST OF OUR OH CNTYS FOR ERY TNGT. KEPT LKLY SHWRS/TSTM ENTIRE CWA OVRNGT. WL GO WITH CHC/LKLY SHWRS IN FAR E MON MRNG WITH CHC ELSW DURG THE AFTN...WITH UPR LVL TROF ROTG THRU DURG THE AFTN AND PLNTY OF LOW LVL MSTR. SOMEWHAT CAPPED TMRW AFTN CUD STOP SHWRS FROM FORMING BUT WORTH CHC POPS. THIS CHC CONTS THEN MON NITE AND ERY TUE...THOUGH NO TIMING FOR SHWRS IN FAR E TUE. IF SHWRS OCCUR MON NITE ERY TUE PSBL TO SEE SOME PL WITH 8H TEMPS DROPG TO CLOSE TO -6. BUT WITH SHALLOW MSTR AND CLDS NOT EXTDG UP INTO COLDER TEMPS WONT MNTN PL OR SNW SHWRS IN FCST ATTM. CUT HI TEMPS INTO UPR 40S TUE MOST CWA...ONLY BIG CHNG IN TEMPS. .CLE... OH...NONE. PA...NONE. THOMPSON
OHZ003-006>014-017>023-027>033-036>038-047-089-PAZ001>003-201100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 457 AM EDT SUN APR 20 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MUCH OF NORTHERN OHIO AND A PORTION OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHWESTERN OHIO THIS AFTERNOON. THERE IS A POSSIBILITY FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHEAST OHIO AND NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA THIS EVENING. IF SEVERE WEATHER DEVELOPS...DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS AND LARGE HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED LATER TODAY AND TONIGHT. LOMBARDY
OHZ003-006-007-017-202345- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 447 PM EDT SUN APR 20 2003 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM EDT... AT 445 PM EDT...RADAR SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. THESE STORM WILL MOVE INTO LUCAS...WOOD AND HANCOCK COUNTIES BETWEEN 5 AND 530 PM AND INTO OTTAWA COUNTY BY 540 PM. THESE STORM COULD PRODUCT STRONG WINDS OF 45 TO 50 MPH.
OHZ003-006-007-017-202345- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 447 PM EDT SUN APR 20 2003 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM EDT... AT 445 PM EDT...RADAR SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. THESE STORM WILL MOVE INTO LUCAS...WOOD AND HANCOCK COUNTIES BETWEEN 5 AND 530 PM AND INTO OTTAWA COUNTY BY 540 PM. THESE STORMS COULD PRODUCE STRONG WINDS OF 45 TO 50 MPH.
The Cleveland radar (KCLE), 106 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:59 UTC.
14 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm winds downed a few trees and large limbs in Holland and Toledo.
Thunderstorm winds downed one power pole.
Dime size hail was observed two miles south of Tiffin.
Thunderstorm winds downed several large tree limbs northwest of Monroeville near Bellvue.
Thunderstorm winds downed a few trees and large limbs.
Thunderstorm winds downed two trees.
Thunderstorm winds downed many trees across the county. Several buildings were also damaged. An automobile dealership near Oak Harbor lost part of it's roof and had several vehicles damaged. Two barns were heavily damaged along State Route 19 north of Oak Harbor and a third barn was damaged near Rocky Ridge. Over 2500 customers, most of them in Carroll Township and on Catawba Island, were without electricity during the peak of the storm.
Thunderstorm winds downed many trees and large limbs in Tiffin and at least two large limbs in Fostoria. A couple homes in Tiffin sustained roof damage. A few cars were also damaged by fallen trees and limbs. 1,600 customers lost power in Tiffin alone.
Thunderstorms winds downed many trees and three power poles in western Erie County. A home near Castalia had it's roof blown off. Another home sustained minor damage in Sandusky. At least one car was damaged by fallen trees.
Thunderstorm winds damaged a building four miles east of Bellville.
Thunderstorm winds downed one tree and one large tree limb.
Thunderstorm winds downed at least two trees and damaged a few buildings in Martinsburg. A home sustained severe roof and window damage and an adjacent garage was leveled. A barn nearby was also damaged as was a vehicle parked near the leveled garage.
Quarter size hail was observed near Martinsburg.
Quarter size hail was observed near Martinsburg.
A 58 mph thunderstorm wind gust was measured. The strong winds downed two trees near Carey.
Thunderstorm winds downed a power pole.
Dime size hail was observed south of Canton along Interstate 77.
Dime size hail was observed near Interstate 77 on the south side of Canton.
Thunderstorm winds downed many large tree limbs in Berlin Center and Austintown.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Ohio in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Ohio, April 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: 5351297, 5351296, 5352781, 5352778, 5352777, 5352782, 5352677, 5351295, 5352780, 5351303, 5352779, 5352675, 5351298, 5352676, 5351302, 5351300, 5351299, 5352678, 5351301.