7 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 Norman, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 23, 1:25 PM CST, 1 hour 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OKLAHOMA 225 PM CDT SAT AUG 23 2003 ISOLATED TO WIDELY SCATTERED STORMS WILL OCCUR LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING...PARTIALLY ASSISTED BY THE WESTWARD MOVING MCV THAT GENERATED IN AR OVERNIGHT. POPS MAY HAVE TO BE EXTENDED NORTHWEST OF THE CURRENT SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST OK ZONES BEFORE FORECAST ISSUANCE DEPENDING ON TRENDS. A SIMILAR SITUATION MAY DEVELOP SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND LOW POPS HAVE BEEN ADDED FOR THAT. OTHERWISE...HOT AND RAINLESS WEATHER IS EXPECTED MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY AS THE UPPER RIDGE CONTINUES TO DOMINATE OUR WEATHER. WITH THE ANTICIPATED BREAKDOWN OF THE RIDGE LATE IN THE WEEK...OK COULD BE IN ON THE SOUTHERN EXTENT OF THE WESTERLIES WHICH MAY DRIVE A FRONT INTO THE STATE. THE CURRENT FORECAST MAKES THIS TREND WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AND COOLER TEMPERATURES FOLLOWING. OKC 72 100 72 100 / 10 10 0 0 HBR 72 101 72 102 / 10 10 0 0 SPS 73 102 73 101 / 20 10 0 0 GAG 67 100 67 100 / 10 10 0 0 PNC 73 102 73 102 / 10 10 0 0 DUA 73 100 73 99 / 20 20 0 0 FORECAST ID = 09 .OUN... OK...NONE. TX...NONE.
OKZ004>048-050>052-TXZ083>090-241300-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
1157 AM CDT SAT AUG 23 2003
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK COVERS NORTHERN...WESTERN...
CENTRAL...AND SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA...AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS.
.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...
THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS PORTIONS OF
SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA.
LOCATION...
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM WARDVILLE...TO COALGATE...TO TISHOMINGO...
TO MARIETTA.
TIMING...
3 TO 7 PM.
IMPACTS...
DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 65 MPH.
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS...
STORM SPOTTER GROUPS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL ACROSS THE
RISK AREA SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR SEVERE WEATHER OPERATIONS.
DISCUSSION...
SEVERAL SOURCES OF LOWER LEVEL CONVERGENCE WILL EXIST NEAR AND
ACROSS THE SLIGHT RISK AREA THIS AFTERNOON. AS THE ATMOSPHERE
CONTINUES TO DESTABILIZE...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO
DEVELOP NEAR THESE BOUNDARIES. HIGH INSTABILITY AND AMPLE LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE WILL SUPPORT THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGING DOWNBURST WINDS TO
ACCOMPANY A FEW OF THESE STORMS. AS SURFACE TEMPERATURES COOL BY
EARLY EVENING...THE CAPPING INVERSION WILL STRENGTHEN...AND
INSTABILITY WILL LOWER...RESULTING IN THUNDERSTORMS DIMINISHING.
STORMS THAT DEVELOP WILL MOVE IN A GENERAL WESTWARD DIRECTION...
HOWEVER DUE TO WEAK VERTICAL WIND SHEAR...VARIABLE STORM MOTION MAY
OCCUR.
PROBABILITY TABLE...
VALID THROUGH 700 AM CDT SUNDAY AUG 24.
PROBABILITY OF THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRING IN THE
NWS NORMAN COUNTY WARNING AREA...40 PERCENT.
PROBABILITY OF SEVERE STORMS IF STORMS OCCUR...20 PERCENT.
OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
HEAT WILL REACH DANGEROUS LEVELS AGAIN THIS AFTERNOON OVER MUCH OF
OKLAHOMA AND NORTH TEXAS. HEAT INDICES WILL REACH THE 105 TO 110
DEGREE RANGE IN MANY AREAS. PRECAUTION SHOULD BE EXERCISED TO AVOID
HEAT RELATED HEALTH PROBLEMS. IF YOU NEED TO BE OUTSIDE...AVOID ANY
PROLONGED STRENUOUS ACTIVITY AND TAKE FREQUENT BREAKS. DRINK PLENTY
OF WATER...AVOID PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO DIRECT SUN...AND DRESS IN
LOOSE FITTING LIGHT COLORED CLOTHING. PROTECT YOUR PETS BY MAKING
SURE THEY HAVE PLENTY OF SHADE AND COOL WATER.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY...
THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
ALTHOUGH THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS
NORTHERN OKLAHOMA ON TUESDAY...BETTER CHANCES WILL WAIT UNTIL LATE
NEXT WEEK WHEN A COLD FRONT MAY INFLUENCE THE AREA.
OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
TEMPERATURES WILL REMAIN WELL ABOVE NORMAL WITH HEAT INDICES
CONTINUING TO REACH DANGEROUS LEVELS THROUGH THE FIRST PART OF NEXT
WEEK.
THE NEXT SCHEDULED HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED AT 7 AM
SUNDAY.
JAMESThe Norman radar (KTLX), 151 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:59 UTC.
7 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong downburst winds destroyed a sixty foot by thirty foot barn. A six foot by six foot board from the barn was forced through the roof of another barn. A satellite dish near the house was also heavily damaged.
Downburst winds caused damage to a Walmart near the intersection of Reno Avenue and North Rockwell Avenue. Winds moved some air conditioning units that were on the roof and caused roof damage. A gas line was ruptured causing a gas leak, which prompted the store to be evacuated.
A roof was blown off a barn. Tree limbs were also downed.
Several large trees were downed.
Fences and three to eight inch diameter tree limbs were downed.
A barn was destroyed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Oklahoma in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Oklahoma, August 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: 5334012, 5334981, 5334975, 5334011, 5334976, 5334977, 5334978, 5334979, 5334980.