5 flood, 1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 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 15, 2:05 PM EST, 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 305 PM EDT FRI AUG 15 2003 VISIBLE IMAGERY AND KILN RADAR THIS AFTN WERE SHOWING DEVELOPING CONVECTION...MAINLY FROM THE CVG AREA NE TO CMH. THIS WAS IN RESPONSE TO A WEAK SFC TROF...COMBINED WITH CAPES BETWEEN 2500 J/KG AND 3000 J/KG. ATTM...WATER VAPOR IMAGERY DEPICTED A S/WV OVER SRN WISCONSIN/NRN IL. THIS S/WV SHOULD KEPT CONVECTION GOING INTO THE EVENING HOURS N AND INTO EARLY MORNING S AS IT MOVES FROM NW TO SE OVER THE CWFA. ONCE THIS PASSES AND CONVECTION CEASES...SKIES SHOULD BECOME MOSTLY CLEAR. VERY HUMID AIRMASS WITH DEWPOINTS IN THE LOWER TO MID 70S...WITH LIGHT WINDS AND LEFT OVER MSTR FROM RAINFALL WILL RESULT IN AREAS OF FOG...LOCALLY DENSE. EVENING/MIDNIGHT SHIFT WILL HAVE TO ASCERTAIN IF AN ADVISORY SHOULD BE NEEDED. FOR SATURDAY...COLD FRONT OVER THE NRN PLAINS WILL SWEEP SOUTHEAST INTO THE SRN GREAT LAKES BY AFTN...THEN ACRS OUR CWFA INTO THE OHIO RIVER VALLEY BY LATE SATURDAY NIGHT/SUNDAY MORNING. ONLY WEAK CONVERGENCE NOTED ON MODELS IN THE LOW LVLS. BEST UPR DYNAMICS WILL BE FOCUSED MORE TOWARDS NE OHIO. HOWEVER...WITH FCST CAPES OF NEARLY 3000 J/KG...IT WILL NOT TAKE MUCH TO KICK OFF A SCATTERED LINE OF CONVECTION (PSBLY A SQUALL LINE). 50 POPS FOR THE ENTIRE REGION STILL LOOK GOOD AT THIS TIME. WILL DRY THINGS OUT ON SUNDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE RIDGES INTO THE REGION. DRY CONDITIONS SHOULD PREVAIL THROUGH AT LEAST WEDNESDAY EVENING...BEFORE AN APCHING COLD FRONT FROM THE WEST BRINGS THE NEXT CHC FOR PCPN. .ILN...NONE. HICKMAN
INZ050-058-059-066-073>075-080-KYZ089>100-OHZ026-034-035-042>046- 051>056-060>065-070>074-077>082-088-151115- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 500 AM EDT FRI AUG 15 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN INDIANA...NORTHERN KENTUCKY AND THE SOUTHWEST QUARTER OF OHIO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AN UPPER AIR DISTURBANCE WILL BRING A CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS AGAIN TODAY. ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE. HEAT INDICES WILL RISE INTO THE UPPER 90S TODAY IN THE MIAMI AND WHITEWATER VALLEYS AND THE CINCINNATI TRI-STATE AREA...WHICH WILL CAUSE PROBLEMS FOR THE ELDERLY AND FOR PERSONS THAT WORK OUTDOORS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY A COLD FRONT WILL BRING THE CHANCE FOR MORE THUNDERSTORMS ON SATURDAY. SOME OF THE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.
The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 19:46 UTC.
5 flood, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Scattered thunderstorms with heavy rain caused localized flooding of roads and creeks to rise out of their banks in the Cincinnati and Columbus metro areas during the late afternoon and evening.
Scattered thunderstorms with heavy rain caused localized flooding of roads and creeks to rise out of their banks in the Cincinnati and Columbus metro areas during the late afternoon and evening.
Scattered thunderstorms with heavy rain caused localized flooding of roads and creeks to rise out of their banks in the Cincinnati and Columbus metro areas during the late afternoon and evening.
Scattered thunderstorms with heavy rain caused localized flooding of roads and creeks to rise out of their banks in the Cincinnati and Columbus metro areas during the late afternoon and evening.
Scattered thunderstorms with heavy rain caused localized flooding of roads and creeks to rise out of their banks in the Cincinnati and Columbus metro areas during the late afternoon and evening.
Thunderstorms that produced locally five to seven inches of rain inundated the east side of Columbus during the evening. Street flooding occurred from Bexley north to Gahanna with numerous road closures. Several homes in Bexley neighborhoods had flooded basements, with high water forcing 25 families out of their homes. Seventeen structures sustained major damage from 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: 5333152, 5333153, 5333154, 5333155, 5333156, 5333476.