5 hail, 3 tornado, 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 Lubbock, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 23, 8:58 AM CST, 2 hours 18 minutes earlier.
SOUTH PLAINS AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
958 AM CDT WED APR 23 2003
UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM NEAR THE 4-CORNERS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE
EASTWARD TODAY. THIS WILL ASSIST IN THE DEEPENING OF LOW PRESSURE
ACROSS EASTERN COLORADO INTO KANSAS. AS A PACIFIC FRONT SWINGS
EASTWARD WE EXPECT WIND SPEEDS TO INCREASE TO ADVISORY LEVELS.
ALREADY SEEING SURFACE WINDS GUSTING OVER 40 MPH. 50KT WINDS WORKING
THEIR WAY LOWER ON THE TUCUMCARI PROFILER. MODELS ALSO SHOW 5H JET
MOVING ACROSS THE WESTERN SOUTH PLAINS THIS AFTERNOON. SHOULD SEE AT
LEAST A FEW WIND GUSTS APPROACHING 50 MPH. WILL LIKELY SEE AREAS OF
BLOWING DUST REDUCING VISIBILITIES TO AROUND 2 MILES AT
TIMES....ESPECIALLY NEAR OPEN FIELDS.
THUNDERSTORMS CURRENTLY LOCATED ALONG THE DRYLINE AS IT PUSHES INTO
THE DEEPER MOISTURE. THE PACIFIC FRONT IS CLOSE BEHIND AND IS
CURRENTLY MOVING INTO THE WESTERN CWA. FRONT AND DRYLINE WILL BECOME
ONE THIS AFTERNOON AS WE SEE A GOOD PUNCH OF DRY AIR ACROSS THE CWA.
EXPECT TO SEE MORE STORMS INITIATE AS THE FRONT MOVES INTO THE
ROLLING PLAINS. SEVERE WORDING IN THE CURRENT ZONES LOOKS GOOD FOR
THIS AREA.
.LUB...WIND ADVISORY TODAY TXZ021>024-027>030-033>036-039>041.
RED FLAG WARNING TODAY TXZ021>024-027>030-033>035-039>042.TXZ021>044-232245- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 1147 AM CDT WED APR 23 2003 THIS IS A HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR THE EXTREME SOUTHERN PANHANDLE...SOUTH PLAINS AND ROLLING PLAINS. .DAY ONE... CONVECTIVE THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS PORTIONS OF THE EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN PANHANDLE AND LOW ROLLING PLAINS THIS AFTERNOON. LARGE HAIL...TORNADOES...AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE POSSIBLE. A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THIS AREA UNTIL 600 PM THIS EVENING. FIRE WEATHER WINDY AND DRY CONDITIONS WILL COMBINE THIS AFTERNOON TO CAUSE A HIGH FIRE DANGER ACROSS THE WESTERN AND CENTRAL PORTIONS OF THE SOUTH PLAINS. REFER TO THE RED FLAG PRODUCT ISSUED BY THIS OFFICE AT 1010 AM. NON PRECIPITATION WINDY CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE WESTERN AND CENTRAL PORTIONS OF THE SOUTH PLAINS TODAY. SUSTAINED WIND SPEEDS OF 35 MPH OR GREATER ARE EXPECTED. AREAS OF BLOWING DUST MAY ALSO ACCOMPANY THESE STRONGER WINDS. FOR FURTHER DETAILS PLEASE REFER TO THE WIND ADVISORY PRODUCT ISSUED BY THIS OFFICE AT 1003 AM THIS MORNING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS LIKELY TODAY AND TONIGHT OVER THE ROLLING PLAINS...SOUTHEASTERN PANHANDLE...AND OTHER AREAS ADJACENT TO THE CAPROCK.
TXZ025-026-031-032-037-038-043-044-232300- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 1209 PM CDT WED APR 23 2003 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 146 FOR A PORTION OF THE EXTREME SOUTHEAST TEXAS PANHANDLE AND THE LOW ROLLING PLAINS. THE WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES... HALL... CHILDRESS... MOTLEY... COTTLE... DICKENS... KING... KENT... STONEWALL... INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING CITIES... MEMPHIS... CHILDRESS... MATADOR... PADUCAH... SPUR... GUTHRIE... JAYTON... ASPERMONT... A TORNADO WATCH MEANS THAN CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 111 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 17:14 UTC.
5 hail, 3 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A tornado was reported over open country. An NWS storm survey was not conducted as the tornado caused no damage.
The Briscoe County Sheriff's Office reported a brief tornado touchdown over open country. An NWS storm survey was not conducted as the tornado caused no damage.
The King County Sheriff's Office reported a tornado over open country. An NWS storm survey was not conducted as the tornado caused no damage.
The Cottle County Sheriff's Office reported golfball size hail.
The Guthrie Fire Department reported golfball size hail.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 2003Warnings in Texas, April 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: 5348845, 5348758, 5348846, 5348760, 5348759, 5348842, 5348843, 5348844.