2 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 Cleveland, OH wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 5, 7:25 PM EST, 4 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 825 PM EDT MON MAY 5 2003 WANT TO SEND AN UPDATE PRIMARILY FOR CLOUDS IN THE YNG/ERIE AREA. CRNT FCST IS FOR M/C AND WHILE YNG IS BKN ATTM BLV RGN WL BCM PC THIS EVG AND CONT MUCH OF THE NIGHT. THREAT FOR CLOUDS DOES EXIST LATER TNGT FROM CONVECTIVE BLOWOFF IN FM THE MS VLY ALTHOUGH UPPR FLOW BACKS WITH TIME OVRNGT WHICH WILL THE LIMIT NORTHWARD EXTEND OF CI SHIELD. ALSO...WL LV THREAT OF CONVECTION IN FCST FOR THE OVRNGT. STARTED TO LOWER POPS BUT MESOETA CONTINUES CAPE OVRNGT WITH VALUES OVER 1100J/KG AT 09Z ACRS CWA. DONT SEE A TRIGGER ATTM IN DYNAMIC FIELDS BUT WE COULD SEE A LOW LVL OUTFLOW BNDRY FROM EVG CONVECTION TO OUR NORTH OR SOUTH THAT COULD TOUCH OFF CONVECTION IN CWA GVN FCST INSTBY. MISCLE AVBL SOON .CLE... OH...NONE. PA...NONE. TK
OHZ003-006>014-017>023-027>033-036>038-047-089-PAZ001>003-051145- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 540 AM EDT MON MAY 5 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MUCH OF NORTHERN OHIO AND A PORTION OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TODAY AND EARLY TONIGHT OVER NORTHERN OHIO. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE WIDESPREAD ACROSS THE AREA TODAY AS A WARM FRONT MOVES NORTHEAST INTO NORTHEAST OHIO THIS EVENING AND A COLD FRONT APPROACHES NORTHWEST OHIO LATE IN THE DAY. IF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DO DEVELOP THE MAIN THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE FROM DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. SOME HEAVY RAINS MAY ALSO OCCUR WHICH COULD CAUSE SOME LOCALIZED FLOODING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THERE WILL BE A CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. AT THIS TIME THEY ARE NOT EXPECTED TO BE SEVERE. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED TODAY AND TONIGHT.
The Cleveland radar (KCLE), 11 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 05:12 UTC.
2 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Thunderstorm winds downed trees in Cleveland and Garfield Heights.
Nickel size hail was observed.
Dime size hail was observed southeast of Chardon.
Thunderstorm winds downed several trees and large limbs in Saybrook Township.
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, May 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: 5359704, 5359702, 5359701, 5359703.