3 flood, 1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 4 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 Wilmington, OH wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 12, 2:00 PM EST, 5 hours 15 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 300 PM EDT TUE AUG 12 2003 UPPER AIR CHART HAS INVERTED TROF EXTENDING INTO ILN CWA FROM THE SOUTHWEST. TROF HAS BEGUN TO RECEDE SOUTHWEST TOWARD TEXAS AS PER MODEL PROJECTIONS. AS THE UPPER LOW CONTINUES SOUTHWEST...A LARGE UPPER HIGH WILL REPLACE IT. MODELS HAVE STRENGTHENED THE HIGH WITH RESPECT TO PREVIOUS RUNS. SURFACE MAP HAS A TROF FROM THE GULF THROUGH THE TENNESSEE VALLEY TO NEW ENGLAND. HIGH PRESSURE PERSISTS OVER THE NORTHWEST GREAT LAKES. MODELS SHOW HIGH GRADUALLY BUILDING INTO THE OHIO VALLEY OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS. RADAR SHOWS TSRA IN NORTHWEST OHIO ALONG THE NORTHERN PERIPHERY OF THE UPPER TROF...MOVING NORTH IN THE SOUTHERLY FLOW ON THE EASTERN FLANK OF THE TROF. TSRA DEVELOPMENT IS BEING AIDED BY LAKE ERIE BREEZE CONVERGENCE AND SLIGHTLY HIGHER DEW POINTS. FARTHER SOUTH...OVER MOST OF ILN CWA...CU HAVE DEVELOPED...BUT NO TSRA YET. THERE IS STILL A SLIGHT CHANCE THAT TSRA WILL POP BY LATE EVENING...SO ILL KEEP 20 POPS OVER MOST OF OUR AREA THIS EVENING...EXCEPT 30 POPS IN WEST CENTRAL OHIO. EVEN THOUGH UPPER SUPPORT WILL CONTINUE TO SLIDE SOUTHWEST... FORECAST FOR WEDNESDAY THROUGH THURSDAY WILL FEATURE MORE OF THE SAME...WITH 20 POPS FOR AFTERNOON AND EVENING TSRA...OTHERWISE PARTLY CLOUDY. FOR WEDNESDAY...MARGINAL INSTABILITY AND RELATIVELY COOL AIR ALOFT WILL RESULT IN A FEW MORE TSRA. ON THURSDAY... MOISTURE MOVING NORTH IN FRONT OF THE UPPER LOW AS IT CONTACTS THE GULF WILL WARRANT CONTINUING THE SLIGHT CHANCE. TEMPS: WARMING TREND HAS BEGUN. LOW LEVEL MOISTURE SHOULD PREVENT US FROM REACHING 90. EXTENDED: MAINLY DRY FRIDAY THROUGH TUESDAY AS UPPER HIGH BECOMES ENTRENCHED. BEST CHANCE FOR TSRA LOOKS TO BE MONDAY WITH SYSTEM MOVING THROUGH LAKES. .ILN...NONE. CONIGLIO
INZ050-058-059-066-073>075-080-KYZ089>100-OHZ026-034-035-042>046- 051>056-060>065-070>074-077>082-088-121145- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 550 AM EDT TUE AUG 12 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN INDIANA...NORTHERN KENTUCKY AND THE SOUTHWEST QUARTER OF OHIO. .DAY ONE...TODAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ACROSS THE OUTLOOK AREA. THE THREAT AND COVERAGE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE A LITTLE BETTER NORTH OF I-70. SOME STORMS WILL PRODUCE HEAVY RAINFALL AND LOCALIZED FLOODING. AN ISOLATED SEVERE STORM WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY AN ISOLATED AFTERNOON OR EVENING THUNDERSTORM WILL BE POSSIBLE WEDNESDAY. IF THE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPS THEN TORRENTIAL RAINFALL AND LOCALIZED FLOODING WILL BE POSSIBLE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. TIPTON
The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 93 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:14 UTC.
3 flood, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
An isolated thunderstorm remained nearly stationary across the northern Columbus suburbs, from Dublin to Powell. Three to five inches fell during the evening, causing creeks to rise out of their banks and street flooding.
An isolated thunderstorm remained nearly stationary across the northern Columbus suburbs, from Dublin to Powell. Three to five inches fell during the evening, causing creeks to rise out of their banks and street flooding.
An isolated thunderstorm remained nearly stationary across the northern Columbus suburbs, from Dublin to Powell. Three to five inches fell during the evening, causing creeks to rise out of their banks and street flooding.
Sawmill and Smoky Row Roads were flooded with several vehicles stranded in high water. Numerous homes had basement flooding.
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, 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: 5333064, 5333066, 5333065, 5333151.