4 winter storm, 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 Jan 16, 2:22 PM EST, 3 hours 8 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 222 PM EST THU JAN 16 2003 FCST PERIOD IS CATEGORIZED WITH A FEW CLIPPERS PASSING OVER FCST AREA AND H5 LOW MOVING FROM JAMES BAY TO THE ERN GTLKS BY TUESDAY. AFTER THIS, H5 PATTERN FROM MRF DOES NOT SEEM TO MAKE MUCH SENSE WITH A BROAD LOW ENTERING THE SRN CANADIAN PLAINS. SFC LOW EJECTING FROM THE GREAT BASIN AND STRENGTHENING OVER TNVLY SEEMS TO BE A BIT OVERDONE AS WELL FOR LAST 2 DAYS OF FCST. NEXT GOOD CHANCE FOR PRECIP WILL BE SAT NITE AHEAD OF NEXT CLIPPER. CENTER OF H5 LOW SWINGS RIGHT OVER FCST AREA AND ASSOCIATED SFC TROF WITH A LOW IN THE GTLKS REGION PASSING EAST OF REGION BY 12Z SUN. SFC FRONT IS NOT THAT WELL DEFINED AS IT PASSES THROUGH WITH ENERGY BEING SPLIT TO THE N AND S OF THE REGION. WEAK WAA SETS UP BRIEFLY AFTER PASSAGE OF THIS CLIPPER AND THEN QUICKLY GETS CAUGHT IN WESTERLY FLOW WITH YET ANOTHER WEAK CLIPPER SUNDAY EVENING. LAST LOBE OF H5 LOW N OF GTLKS SWINGS THROUGH ON MON PM AND THEN SFC HI TAKES OVER WITH LAST SFC CDFNT PASSAGE ON TUESDAY. A COUPLE ROUNDS OF SNOW IS EXPECTED THROUGH THE PERIOD AND IM GOING TO KEEP TEMPS A BIT BELOW GUIDANCE WITH THE THOUGHT OF FRESH SNOW COVER THAT SHOULD NOT EXPERIENCE ANY MELT. ON THE EXTENDED, ARCTIC AIRMASS TO REMAIN IN PLACE OVER OHVLY WITH A REINFORCING FROPA ON MON NIGHT/TUESDAY. SFC HIGH PRESSURE RIDGE SETS UP FROM CANADIAN PLAINS TO GTLKS REGION ON DAYS 6/7. MRF BRINGS A SFC LOW ACROSS THE GULF STATES AND TRIES TO BRING WARM AIR INTO THE REGION FROM THE SOUTH. BELIEVE THAT THE HIGH PRESSURE WILL DOMINATE AND ANY SFC WAVES TO THE SOUTH WILL NOT SEE THE NRN EDGE REACH OHVLY. WILL HAVE ISC GRIDS IN DATABASE FOR VIEWING BY 3:00. COMMENTS AND COORDINATION WELCOME. .ILN... IN...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY THRU 10 PM FOR INZ058>059-066-073>075-080. KY...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY THRU 10 PM FOR KYZ089>096. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY THRU 2 AM FRIDAY FOR KYZ097>100. OH...WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY THRU 10 PM FOR OHZ070-077>078. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY THRU 2 AM FRIDAY FOR OHZ079>082-088. FRANKS
INZ050-058-059-066-073>075-080-KYZ089>100-OHZ026-034-035-042>046- 051>056-060>065-070>074-077>082-088-161200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 510 AM EST THU JAN 16 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN INDIANA...NORTHERN KENTUCKY AND THE SOUTHWEST QUARTER OF OHIO. .DAY ONE...TODAY LOW PRESSURE IN THE CENTRAL PLAINS WILL TRACK INTO THE TENNESSEE VALLEY BY THIS EVENING...SPREADING SNOW INTO THE OHIO VALLEY TODAY. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 5 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS NORTHERN KENTUCKY BY TONIGHT...WITH 2 TO 4 INCHES POSSIBLE ACROSS SOUTHEAST INDIANA...SOUTHERN OHIO AND NORTHEAST KENTUCKY. LIGHTER AMOUNTS ARE EXPECTED FURTHER NORTH ALONG THE INTERSTATE 70 CORRIDOR. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY A QUICK MOVING UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL TRACK ACROSS THE OHIO VALLEY SATURDAY NIGHT BRINGING ANOTHER CHANCE FOR SNOW. OTHER WEAK DISTURBANCES WILL KEEP THE CHANCE FOR LIGHT SNOW IN THE REGION INTO EARLY NEXT WEEK. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. RYAN
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
4 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
Low pressure tracking across the upper Tennessee valley, produced a swath of snow across the southern half of Ohio. Two to three inches fell across the region, with isolated amounts up to four inches.
Low pressure tracking across the upper Tennessee valley, produced a swath of snow across the southern half of Ohio. Two to three inches fell across the region, with isolated amounts up to four inches.
Low pressure tracking across the upper Tennessee valley, produced a swath of snow across the southern half of Ohio. Two to three inches fell across the region, with isolated amounts up to four inches.
Low pressure tracking across the upper Tennessee valley, produced a swath of snow across the southern half of Ohio. Two to three inches fell across the region, with isolated amounts up to four inches.
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, January 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: 5340752, 5340753, 5340754, 5340755.