4 flood, 2 hail, 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 Jul 23, 2:35 AM EST, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 335 AM EDT WED JUL 23 2003 STILL GETTING PLENTY OF CONVECTION...INCLUDING REPORTS OF MINOR FLOODING AND SMALL HAIL. GIVEN THE PERSISTENCE OF SHRA/TSRA ASSOC WTH S/WV...WILL UP POPS IN THE MORNING. AS STRONGER S/WV OVR IL SWINGS THROUGH AREA...WL BE OVER ERN FA AT TIME OF BEST HEATING AND INSTABY. SO HAVE ADJUSTED AFTERNOON POP TO 50% IN EAST. EVEN THOUGH LOW MORNING CLDS WL PERSIST FOR A WHILE...EXPECT INSTABILITY TO TAKE OVER AND RESULT IN CHANCE SHOWERS AND TSRA ACROSS ALL OF COUNTY WARNING AREA. WHILE UNLIKELY TO PRODUCE SEVERE...POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL IS EXPECTED. MAV GUIDANCE LOOKS MORE ON TARGE THAN MET...BUT STILL A LITTLE TOO COOL. HAVE ADJUSTED CRNT FORECASTED TEMPS UP JUST A LITTLE...BUT THEY LOOK GOOD FOR THE MOST PART. FOR THURSDAY...HAVE INCLUDED SLIGHT CHANCE IN THE EAST AS REMAINING STEEP LAPSE RATES DUE TO COOL AIR ALOFT AND PROXIMITY OF WEAKENING TROF. HAVE CONTINUED DRY WEATHER FOR FRIDAY AS HIGH PRESSURE TAKES OVER. .ILN...NONE. JDR
INZ050-058-059-066-073>075-080-KYZ089>100-OHZ026-034-035-042>046- 051>056-060>065-070>074-077>082-088-231100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 459 AM EDT WED JUL 23 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN INDIANA...NORTHERN KENTUCKY AND THE SOUTHWEST QUARTER OF OHIO. .DAY ONE...TODAY AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL AFFECT THE LOWER GREAT LAKES AND OHIO VALLEY. THIS WILL BRING A CHANCE FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TODAY INTO TONIGHT. AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM MAY BECOME SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER THREAT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY THE UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL MOVE SLOWLY OFF TO THE EAST ON THURSDAY. THE THREAT FOR A FEW SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE...ESPECIALLY ACROSS CENTRAL OHIO AND NORTHEAST KENTUCKY. SOME THUNDERSTORMS MAY REACH SEVERE LIMITS DURING THE AFTERNOON. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED.
The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 75 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:11 UTC.
4 flood, 2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorms produced localized flooding across portions of south central Ohio. Numerous roads were flooded across Pike and Ross counties during the early morning. The torrential rainfall also caused sewer water to backup into several homes on the northeast side of Chillicothe.
Thunderstorms produced localized flooding across portions of south central Ohio. Numerous roads were flooded across Pike and Ross counties during the early morning. The torrential rainfall also caused sewer water to backup into several homes on the northeast side of Chillicothe.
Thunderstorms produced localized flooding across portions of south central Ohio. Numerous roads were flooded across Pike and Ross counties during the early morning. The torrential rainfall also caused sewer water to backup into several homes on the northeast side of Chillicothe.
A slow moving thunderstorm dumped between two and three inches of rain across western Delaware county during the afternoon. The heavy rain caused two to three feet of water to collect at the intersection of Main Road and US Route 23.
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, July 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: 5334552, 5334553, 5334554, 5334555, 5329783, 5329784.