5 winter storm, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 5 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 26, 2:01 PM EST, 2 hours 59 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 201 PM EST SUN JAN 26 2003 WILL LET THE WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY DIE...WHEN THE AFTERNOON PACKAGE IS ISSUED. HIGH PRESSURE BUILDS IN OVERNIGHT. 850 MB THERMAL TROF..SWINGS THROUGH BETWEEN 00Z AD 06Z...WITH 850MB AROUND -18 TO -20 C BY MORNING. SURFACE TEMPERATURES IN NORTHERN IL ARE ALREADY AND 10F ABOVE AND DEWPOINTS AROUND -7F. TEMPERATURES TECHNIQUES WOULD PUT LOWS AROUND 0...BUT WITH LIGHT WINDS AND FRESH SNOW COVER WILL OPEN RANGES DOWN...WILL GO -5 TO -10 IN THE NORTH AND 0 TO -5 IN THE SOUTH. HIGH SLIDES EAST DURING THE DAY...AND WAA CLOUDS QUICKLY SPILLS IN. PREFER THE WETTER GFS SOLUTION WHICH PRINTS QPF ACROSS THE AREA MONDAY NIGHT. MODELS CONTINUE TO SUGGEST THE POSSIBILITY OF PCPN TYPE CHANGE OVER ON TUE. THE ETA IS THE WARMEST...PUSHING THE 1300M 1000-850MB THICKNESS LINE THROUGH THE FA. THE GFS IS A LITTLE COOLER...SUGGESTING SNOW ACROSS THE NORTH AND A MIX ACROSS THE SOUTH. CONSIDERING THE SNOW THAT IS ON THE GROUND...THINK THAT TEMPERATURES WILL BE COOLER THAN WHAT THE ETA IS FORECASTING...SO WILL GO WITH GFS SOLUTION. WILL CONTINUE BELOW THE AVNMOS HIGHS ON MONDAY IN THE SOUTH. ACROSS THE NORTH THEY MATCH THE CURRENT FORECAST. TEMPERATURES SHOULD CONTINUE TO RISE MONDAY NIGHT IN THE WAA. CLEMISILN OUT LATER. .ILN...NONE. SITES
INZ050-058-059-066-073>075-080-KYZ089>100-OHZ026-034-035-042>046- 051>056-060>065-070>074-077>082-088-261230- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 545 AM EST SUN JAN 26 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN INDIANA...NORTHERN KENTUCKY AND THE SOUTHWEST QUARTER OF OHIO. .DAY ONE...TODAY A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION TODAY. SNOW WILL ACCOMPANY THE FRONT...ESPECIALLY THIS MORNING. UP TO AN INCH OF SNOW ACCUMULATION WILL BE POSSIBLE. ANOTHER COLD SHOT OF AIR WILL MOVE IN BEHIND THE FRONT. TEMPERATURES TONIGHT WILL DROP INTO THE ZERO TO 5 BELOW RANGE. EVEN WITH RELATIVELY LIGHT WINDS OVERNIGHT...WIND CHILLS WILL APPROACH 10 BELOW ZERO LATE TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
5 winter storm. Local standard time, as filed.
An arctic cold front dropped south across the Ohio valley during the morning and into the early afternoon. Brief periods of heavy snow occurred along the front, producing up to four inches.
An arctic cold front dropped south across the Ohio valley during the morning and into the early afternoon. Brief periods of heavy snow occurred along the front, producing up to four inches.
An arctic cold front dropped south across the Ohio valley during the morning and into the early afternoon. Brief periods of heavy snow occurred along the front, producing up to four inches.
An arctic cold front dropped south across the Ohio valley during the morning and into the early afternoon. Brief periods of heavy snow occurred along the front, producing up to four inches.
An arctic cold front dropped south across the Ohio valley during the morning and into the early afternoon. Brief periods of heavy snow occurred along the front, producing 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: 5340758, 5340759, 5340760, 5340761, 5340762.