10 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 2 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 Norman, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Jul 29, 2:28 PM CST, 32 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OKLAHOMA 328 PM CDT TUE JUL 29 2003 MERGER OF WEAK COLD AND SURFACE TROUGH OVER SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA WILL REMAIN THE PRIMARY LIFTING MECHANISM FOR ISOLATED TO WIDELY SCATTERED TSRA OVERNIGHT...WHILE UPSLOPE FLOW ACROSS COLORADO AND WEST TEXAS COULD ALLOW DEVELOPMENT TO SPREAD INTO NORTHWEST PARTS OF THE AREA. THE WEAK COLD FRONT MAY ALLOW ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT DURING THE DAY ON WEDNESDAY. MEANWHILE...A SECONDARY COLD FRONT IS PROJECTED TO MOVE INTO SOUTHERN KANSAS BY LATE WEDNESDAY. GIVEN THE DEGREE OF UNCERTAINTY WITH REGARD TO ITS TIMING AND STRENGTH...AND THE WEAK CAPPING INVERSION THAT IS EXPECTED TO PERSIST OVER THE AREA UNTIL THIS TIME...HAVE INCLUDED 20 POPS FOR ALL AREAS WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND FOR EASTERN AREAS EARLY THURSDAY. LOW POPS APPEAR JUSTIFIED FOR NORTHERN SECTIONS OF OKLAHOMA FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY AND FOR LESSER PORTIONS OF THE SAME AREAS SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT BEFORE THE GREAT LAKES UPPER LOW WEAKENS AND MOVES EAST...WHILE THE MID/UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILDS EASTWARD OVER THE AREA. OKC 70 92 70 96 / 20 5 20 20 HBR 69 92 68 97 / 20 20 20 10 SPS 71 96 71 97 / 20 20 20 10 GAG 64 90 64 98 / 20 5 20 10 PNC 68 92 68 96 / 5 5 20 20 DUA 73 97 72 95 / 20 20 20 20 .OUN... OK...NONE. TX...NONE. JAMES
OKZ004>048-050>052-TXZ083>090-301200-
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
1155 AM CDT TUE JUL 29 2003
THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK COVERS NORTHERN...WESTERN...
CENTRAL...AND SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA...AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS.
.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH TONIGHT...
THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
ALTHOUGH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE SEEN...NO ORGANIZED SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED.
DISCUSSION...A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL BECOME STATIONARY OVER PORTIONS
OF WESTERN NORTH TEXAS AND SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA. THIS FRONT WILL ACT AS
A LIFTING MECHANISM FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. MOST OF THE
ACTIVITY IS EXPECTED ALONG AND JUST NORTH OF THE FRONT...MAINLY
AFFECTING AREAS NEAR AND SOUTH OF INTERSTATE 40.
PROBABILITY TABLE...
VALID THROUGH 700 AM CDT WEDNESDAY JUL 30.
PROBABILITY OF THUNDERSTORMS OCCURRING IN THE
NWS NORMAN COUNTY WARNING AREA...80 PERCENT.
PROBABILITY OF SEVERE STORMS IF STORMS OCCUR...10 PERCENT.
OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
VERY HIGH AND EXTREME FIRE DANGER WILL EXIST THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH
EARLY EVENING ACROSS SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA AND WESTERN NORTH TEXAS.
PRE-FRONTAL TEMPERATURES AT OR ABOVE 100 WILL ENHANCE THE FIRE
DANGER. REFER TO OUR FIRE DANGER PRODUCTS FOR DETAILS.
.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY...
THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...
THE FRONT WILL MOVE VERY LITTLE THROUGH WEDNESDAY...KEEPING A CHANCE
FOR STORMS IN THE SOUTH THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT. CHANCES FOR STORMS
WILL ALSO BE SEEN THIS WEEKEND...PRIMARILY OVER NORTHERN OKLAHOMA.
OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER...
HOT AND DRY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO PERSIST...SO THE FIRE DANGER
WILL REMAIN VERY HIGH.
THE NEXT SCHEDULED HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED AT 7 AM
WEDNESDAY.
11LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
1202 PM CDT TUE JUL 29 2003
TIME (CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1045 PM 9 NW BUFFALO OK WIND DAMAGE
07/28/03 HARPER TREE LIMBS DOWNThe Norman radar (KTLX), 59 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:01 UTC.
10 thunderstorm wind, 5 hail, 2 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Strong winds damaged a porch, several T.V. antennas, and removed some shingles from a couple of homes. A shop building was also overturned along with several trees damaged. This occurred near the intersection of NS360 and Highway 56.
Hail damaged a screen door and broke windows in a few businesses.
Several tree limbs and power poles were downed across the town. Sheet metal was also peeled from several carports.
Several trees and power poles were downed. One tree fell on a car while another, approximately five feet in diameter, fell on a house.
Several eight inch diameter tree limbs were downed.
A fence and several tree limbs were downed at Southeast 24th Avenue and Lindsay Street.
Hail was observed near the intersection of Southeast 12th Avenue and Cedar Lane which is south of Highway 9 and a half a mile west of Highway 77.
Several four inch diameter tree limbs were downed.
Lightning struck a small steeple on top of the BancFirst branch building removing the center of the roof and causing a fire. The lightning hit near the intersection of Highway 99 and Reed Street.
Two large power poles were downed.
Several six inch diameter tree limbs were downed.
A lightning strike started an oil tank battery fire which destroyed two oil storage tanks.
Sustained winds above 50 mph and wind gusts above 60 mph were measured by the Oklahoma mesonet site in Norman for almost 30 minutes. The highest measured wind gust was 79 mph. Numerous trees, power poles, and fences were downed across town. A car was damaged when a tree fell on it. Many homes sustained roof damage. Three semi tractor trailers were overturned on Interstate 35 near the Tecumseh Road exit. Briggs and Stratton and the National Guard Maintenance facility sustained roof damage. Portions of both metal roofs were damaged. Stock was damaged at Briggs and Stratton due to water that came in after roof was removed. Garage doors were also pushed in at the National Guard facility. Max Westheimer Airport also sustained some damage. A hanger roof was damaged along with several airplanes moved. At least two airplanes were overturned. The worst damage occurred in northwest portions of the city.
Hail fell near Tecumseh Road and Northwest 36th Street.
Hail combined with almost 80 mph wind gust caused hail damage in northwest portions of the city. Several windows were broken and holes put in window screens. Numerous homes sustained roof damage also.
Several four inch diameter tree limbs were downed.
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, 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: 5370599, 5370242, 5370243, 5370244, 5370245, 5370246, 5370316, 5370598, 5370317, 5370600, 5370318, 5370319, 5370601, 5370320, 5370321, 5370596, 5370597.