1 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind, 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 Nashville, TN wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 4, 8:15 PM CST, 2 hours 20 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 915 PM CDT SUN MAY 4 2003 SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK EXPECTED IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE OVERNIGHT AND INTO MONDAY MORNING, AS ATMOSPHERE DESTABILIZES AND 0-3 KM STORM RELATIVE HELICITIES APPROACH OBSCENE VALUES OF 600 M2/S2 TO 700 M2/S2. SPC HAS ALREADY EXTENDED THE MODERATE RISK AREA FOR TONIGHT INTO WESTERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE, REACHING RIGHT UP TO THE DAVIDSON OCUNTY LINE. A SLIGHT RISK COVERS THE REMAINDER OF OUR FORECAST AREA OVERNIGHT. TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 239, FOR NORTHWESTERN MIDDLE TENNESSEE, IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 100 AM. A NUMBER OF THUNDERSTORMS TO OUR WEST HAVE SHOWN SIGNIFICANT SIGNS OF ROTATION, AND FORECASTERS AT MEMPHIS WFO HAVE BEEN SLINGING TORNADO WARNINGS FOR THE LAST SEVERAL HOURS. NIGHTTIME TORNADOES ARE A SERIOUS PROBLEM IN TENNESSEE, PARTLY DUE TO THE DARKNESS AND PARTLY DUE TO THE LIMITED VIEWING DISTANCE ALONG THE HORIZON. YOU ARE ADVISED TO REMAIN TUNED TO A RELIABLE SOURCE OF WEATHER INFORMATION THROUGH THE NIGHT AND INTO MONDAY MORNING, AS THE SEVERE WEATHER DEVELOPS IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE. IF POSSIBLE, LEAVE A NOAA WEATHER RADIO IN ALERT MODE ON THE BEDSTAND WHILE YOU SLEEP SO YOU WILL HEAR ANY WARNINGS AS SOON AS THEY ARE ISSUED. .BNA...NONE. 19
TNZ005>011-022>034-056>066-075>080-093>097-051030- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 725 PM CDT SUN MAY 4 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A WARM FRONT WILL PUSH NORTHEASTWARD ACROSS MIDDLE TENNESSEE THIS EVENING, ALLOWING MORE HUMID AIR TO SEEP INTO THE MID STATE. THIS WILL FURTHER DESTABILIZE THE ENVIRONMENT, PROVIDING RIPE CONDITIONS FOR THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP. AMPLE LOW LEVEL WIND SHEAR SHIFTS THE PRIMARY DANGER TOWARD DAMAGING WINDS AND EVEN ISOLATED TORNADOES. IN ADDITION, THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS PLACED ALL OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE UNDER A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE WEATHER TONIGHT, WITH A MODERATE RISK COVERING THE WEST TENNESSEE UP TO THE TENNESSEE RIVER. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY A SERIES OF DISTURBANCE MOVING OUT OF THE PLAINS WILL BRING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO THE AREA MONDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. THERE IS A SMALL CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER EACH OF THESE DAYS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... ACTIVATION OF SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL MAY BECOME NECESSARY DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. ROSE
TNZ005>011-022>034-056>066-075>080-093>097-050830- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 925 PM CDT SUN MAY 4 2003 A SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER OUTBREAK IS EXPECTED IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE LATE TONIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING. ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE EXPECTED...ALONG WITH DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS AND HAIL. THE BIGGEST THREAT AREA THROUGH 400 AM CDT WILL BE IN AREAS WEST OF INTERSTATE 65...INCLUDING CLARKSVILLE...DICKSON... WAVERLY...LINDEN...CENTERVILLE...LAWRENCEBURG...AND WAYNESBORO. NIGHTTIME TORNADOES ARE A SERIOUS PROBLEM IN TENNESSEE...PARTLY DUE TO THE DARKNESS AND PARTLY DUE TO THE LIMITED VIEWING DISTANCE ALONG THE HORIZON. IN ADDITION...TENNESSEE TORNADOES ARE OFTEN WRAPPED IN RAIN...MAKING THEM VERY DIFFICULT TO SEE. YOU ARE ADVISED TO REMAIN TUNED TO A RELIABLE SOURCE OF WEATHER INFORMATION THROUGH THE NIGHT AND INTO MONDAY MORNING, AS THE SEVERE WEATHER DEVELOPS IN MIDDLE TENNESSEE. IF POSSIBLE, LEAVE A NOAA WEATHER RADIO...IN ALERT MODE...ON THE BED STAND WHILE YOU SLEEP SO YOU WILL HEAR ANY WARNINGS AS SOON AS THEY ARE ISSUED. 19
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE,TN
1119 PM CDT SUN MAY 4 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1110 PM 10W DOVER TN TORNADO
05/04/03 STEWART TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED
TORNADO REPORTED ON THE
GROUND NEAR PARIS LANDING
10 W DOVER
JLMThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Law enforcement reported a brief touchdown about 8 miles east of Dover near Indian Mound. There was damage to a brick home at Rorie Hollow Rd.
News article about a tree falling on a house and a truck in Dover on Beech St. Also, a number of large trees were uprooted in the Lakeland Drive area of Dover and Indian Mound. Two Dover businesses, Dover NuLook Laundromat and The Furniture Store, on Donelson Parkway in Dover were damaged.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Tennessee in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Tennessee, 2003Warnings in Tennessee, 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: 5355391, 5355392.