7 flood, 1 flash flood, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 8 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 31, 2:25 PM EST, 47 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 325 PM EDT THU JUL 31 2003 AT 18Z...WEAK SFC LOW WAS NEAR SDF WITH AN ASSOCIATED FRONTAL BOUNDARY EXTENDING FROM THIS LOW ALONG THE MIDDLE OHIO RIVER VALLEY. WEAK SFC LOW AND ASSOCIATED UPR LVL S/WV WERE RESPONSIBLE FOR CURRENT SHOWER/THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY AS SEEN ON KILN RADAR. MORE CONVECTION WAS RECENTLY DEVELOPING ACROSS PARTS OF SW OH AND CNTRL OH. WILL HAVE TO MAKE A LAST MINUTE DECISION ON EXACT POPS FOR THIS EVENING. PRELIMINARY THOUGHTS WERE TO KEEP THE FAR NW DRY TONIGHT WITH 40 POPS IN THE FAR EAST. THERE COULD BE SOME CLEARING OVERNIGHT...AND WHERE RAIN HAS ALREADY FALLEN...FOG COULD BECOME A PROBLEM. EVENING SHIFT WILL HAVE TO PINPOINT PACE OF CLEARING AND WHERE RAIN OCCURRED FOR POSSIBLE FOG/DENSE FOG WORDING. FRONTAL SYSTEM AND CLOSED UPR LVL LOW OVER THE UPR MS VLY/CNTRL PLAINS WILL PIVOT EVERY SO SLOWLY INTO OUR REGION THROUGH THE WEEKEND. WILL INTRODUCE A SLIGHT CHC OF LATE AFTERNOON SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS WEST ON FRIDAY INTO FRIDAY NIGHT...WITH 40 TO 50 POPS EXPECTED OVER THE WEEKEND AS FRONTAL SYSTEM AND SOME LOW LVL CONV/DIV HELP TO INCREASE PCPN COVERAGE. CHC OF SHOWERS/THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGHOUT NEXT WEEK AS UPR TROF FINDS A HOME OVER THE LOWER GREAT LAKES AND OHIO VALLEY REGION. WENT CLOSE TO GFS MAV GUIDANCE FOR TEMPS THROUGH THE PERIOD. .ILN...NONE. HICKMAN
INZ050-058-059-066-073>075-080-KYZ089>100-OHZ026-034-035-042>046- 051>056-060>065-070>074-077>082-088-311100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILMINGTON OH 502 AM EDT THU JUL 31 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN INDIANA...NORTHERN KENTUCKY AND THE SOUTHWEST QUARTER OF OHIO. .DAY ONE...TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.
The Cincinnati radar (KILN), 66 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:10 UTC.
7 flood, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong thunderstorms with torrential rain produced flooding across portions of southwest and south central Ohio during the late afternoon and evening. Numerous roads were flooded across this area. Six mobile homes were washed off their foundations in Chillicothe.
Several homes were flooded and one road was washed out.
Strong thunderstorms with torrential rain produced flooding across portions of southwest and south central Ohio during the late afternoon and evening. Numerous roads were flooded across this area. Six mobile homes were washed off their foundations in Chillicothe.
Strong thunderstorms with torrential rain produced flooding across portions of southwest and south central Ohio during the late afternoon and evening. Numerous roads were flooded across this area. Six mobile homes were washed off their foundations in Chillicothe.
Strong thunderstorms with torrential rain produced flooding across portions of southwest and south central Ohio during the late afternoon and evening. Numerous roads were flooded across this area. Six mobile homes were washed off their foundations in Chillicothe.
Strong thunderstorms with torrential rain produced flooding across portions of southwest and south central Ohio during the late afternoon and evening. Numerous roads were flooded across this area. Six mobile homes were washed off their foundations in Chillicothe.
Strong thunderstorms with torrential rain produced flooding across portions of southwest and south central Ohio during the late afternoon and evening. Numerous roads were flooded across this area. Six mobile homes were washed off their foundations in Chillicothe.
Strong thunderstorms with torrential rain produced flooding across portions of southwest and south central Ohio during the late afternoon and evening. Numerous roads were flooded across this area. Six mobile homes were washed off their foundations in Chillicothe.
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: 5334832, 5334834, 5334833, 5334562, 5334561, 5334563, 5334830, 5334831.