3 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 5, 9:31 AM CST, 1 hour 9 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 1031 AM CDT MON MAY 5 2003 WIDESPREAD SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS SWEPT THROUGH MIDDLE TENNESSEE OVERNIGHT AND DURING THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. SEVERAL REPORTS OF CONFIRMED TORNADOES AS WELL AS NUMEROUS LARGE HAIL AND WIND DAMAGE REPORTS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED. LATEST SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWING DEEP LOW PRESSURE CENTER OVER IOWA WITH THE ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT EXTENDING SOUTHWEST FROM THE LOW THROUGH CENTRAL MISSOURI INTO EASTERN OKLAHOMA AND NORTHERN TEXAS. A WEAK WARM FRONT WAS LOCATED NORTH OF THE FORECAST AREA ALONG A LINE FROM NEAR BRISTOL TENNESSEE TO LOUISVILLE TO THE LOW PRESSURE CENTER OVER IOWA. THE FORECAST AREA REMAINS IN A MOIST AND VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS. TEMPERATURES WERE HOLDING IN THE LOWER 70S EXCEPT MID 60S ALONG THE PLATEAU. DEWPOINTS WERE IN THE 60S. WITH THE FORECAST AREA REMAINING IN THE MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS...EXPECT STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TO CONTINUE ALONG THE SOUTHERN PORTION AND RE-DEVELOP LATER TODAY ELSEWHERE ACROSS MIDDLE TENNESSEE. 12Z BNA SOUNDING INDICATING VERY UNSTABLE AIR OVER MIDDLE TENNESSEE. LIFTED INDEX WAS -5.4. SWEAT INDEX WAS 347. PRECIP WATER WAS 1.59 INCHES. .BNA...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 3 PM CDT FOR ALL OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE EXCEPT PICKETT...FENTRESS...AND CUMBERLAND COUNTIES 05
TNZ005>011-022>034-056>066-075>080-093>097-061030- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN 530 AM CDT MON MAY 5 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MIDDLE TENNESSEE. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT A STRONG STORM SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT THE MID-STATE TODAY AND TONIGHT. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE SCATTERED TODAY AND THAN BECOME A LITTLE MORE NUMEROUS AGAIN TONIGHT. THE AREA REMAINS UNDER A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER...WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF LARGE HAIL AND MORE ISOLATED TORNADOES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY A SERIES OF DISTURBANCE WILL CONTINUE TO BRING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO THE AREA TUESDAY THROUGH FRIDAY. THERE IS A CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER EACH OF THESE DAYS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD REMAIN ALERT TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION. 07
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
0859 AM CDT MON MAY 05 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0856 AM 1 E LAWRENCEBURG TN WIND DAMAGE
05/05/03 LAWRENCE 10 INCHES LIMBS DOWN
MEDPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
1012 AM CDT MON MAY 05 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1006 AM 12 NW LAWRENCEBURG TN 0.75 IN HAIL
05/05/03 LAWRENCE SPOTTER REPORTED PENNY
SIZE HAIL AT U.S. HWY 64
AND STATE HWY 240.
JAOPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE TN
1051 AM CDT MON MAY 05 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1047 AM ETHRIDGE TN 1.00 IN HAIL
05/05/03 LAWRENCE
STEIGERWALDTPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE,TN
1104 AM CDT MON MAY 5 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1048 AM 2 E ETHRIDGE TN TORNADO
05/05/03 LAWRENCE TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED
BARN FLATTENED BY POSSIBLE
TORNADO
HSPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NASHVILLE,TN
1107 AM CDT MON MAY 5 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1130 AM 2.8 W CORNERSVILLE TN WIND DAMAGE
05/05/03 MARSHALL SPOTTER REPORTED 2 TREES
DOWN AT THE INTERSECTION OF
I-65 AND HWY 129.
1118 AM NORTHEAST SECTION TN 4.50 INCH HAIL
05/05/03 GILES SPOTTER REPORTED SOFT BALL
SIZE HAIL.
JAOThe Northeast Alabama radar (KHTX), 58 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:39 UTC.
3 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Newspaper story reported one house was lost on Patton Hollow Road of U.S. Highway 431. 60 to 100 trees were blown down. One horse had to be put down because his leg was cut off to the bone.
The Oak Hill Baptist Church on Wiley Hollow Road was heavily damaged. The church was established in 1883. The nearby residence of the pastor had major roof damage. One of the parishioners was going to take shelter at the church. The tornado carried his truck over the roof of the church and crashed it on top of a nearby tree and utility pole. Also, a frame home on U.S Highway 231 was completely leveled in Belleville and the debris was burned on the spot. There were 2 injuries. One was due to a tree falling on a truck.
Tornado spotted near Kingston Springs Elementary School, which is located at 166 W. Kingston Springs Rd.
Damage to homes on Rogers Road and State Highway 53, continuing onto Whipperville Road which is about a half mile south of the community of Red Hill and ending around the Capp Almond Road and Pleasantview Road area.
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: 5357343, 5357340, 5357341, 5357342.