A strong cold front extending south from an area of low pressure over the northern Great Lakes moved into Northwest Pennsylvania during the afternoon hours. Strong and gusty westerly winds behind this front caused scattered power outages across northwestern Pennsylvania.
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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 episode as NWS CLE wrote it up.
A strong cold front extending south from an area of low pressure over the northern Great Lakes moved into Northwest Pennsylvania during the afternoon hours. Strong and gusty westerly winds behind this front caused scattered power outages across northwestern Pennsylvania. Many trees and powers poles were downed. A peak measured wind gust of 44 mph was recorded at Erie (Erie County) with a 41 mph peak gust at Meadville (Crawford County).
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 11, 8:44 AM EST, 1 hour 16 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 944 AM EDT SUN MAY 11 2003 WIND ADV ISSUED FOR ENTIRE CWA THRU MIDNGHT. WILL BE UPDATING FCST TO ADD ADVS AND REMOVE FLOOD WATCH. PLAN TO KEEP CHC RW/TRW IN EAST SECTIONS THRU ERLY AFTN AND ADJST WINDS. TEMPS WILL BE TRICKY AS FRONT MOVES THRU. .CLE... OH...WIND ADVISORY TIL MIDNIGHT. PA...WIND ADVISORY TIL MIDNIGHT. BM
OHZ003-006>014-017>023-027>033-036>038-047-089-PAZ001>003-111130- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 536 AM EDT SUN MAY 11 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MUCH OF NORTHERN OHIO AND A PORTION OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY THERE STILL REMAINS A THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER MUCH OF NORTHERN OHIO AND NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA...AT LEAST UNTIL LATE THIS MORNING. THE THREAT WILL DIMINISH FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE AREA DURING THE MORNING HOURS. IN ADDITION A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE ENTIRE AREA UNTIL 10 AM. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS COULD CAUSE CREEK AND DRAINAGE DITCH FLOODING AS WELL AS SIGNIFICANT PONDING OF WATER UNTIL LATE THIS MORNING. FORTUNATELY MOST OF THE STORMS ARE MOVING ALONG PRETTY QUICKLY AND NOT ALLOWING LARGE RAINFALL AMOUNTS TO ACCUMULATE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS MORNING. VRCEK
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, 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: 5359852, 5359853, 5359854.