1 lightning, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 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 Fort Worth, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 13, 2:06 PM CST, 1 hour 24 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 306 PM CDT WED AUG 13 2003 NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS HAVE SPRUNG UP ALONG THE MID AND UPPER LEVEL SHEAR AXIS WHICH IS BISECTING THE AREA. WHILE THE COVERAGE IN STORMS NOW IS A BIT OVER 50 PERCENT NORTH OF THE METROPLEX...WE ARE EXPECTED THE COVERAGE TO DIMINISH SOMEWHAT FROM EAST TO WEST AS WE REACH THE START OF THE TONIGHT PERIOD. ACTIVITY SHOULD DIE OFF TO ISOLATED ACTIVITY DURING MID OR LATE EVENING AS HEATING IS LOST. I WAS UNABLE TO PULL POPS ALL TOGETHER FOR THE REST OF TONIGHT...AS LOW LEVEL FLOW IS PROGGED TO TURN TO THE SOUTHEAST OVERNIGHT ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE VERTICALLY STACKED TROUGH NEAR THE BIG BEND REGION. FOR THURSDAY...850 MB SOUTHEAST FLOW WILL KEEP POPS IN THE FORECAST...ALTHOUGH MOST ACTIVITY SHOULD LIE TO THE SOUTHWEST UNDER THE BEST LOW LEVEL FLOW AND TERRAIN LIFTING. AFTER LEFTOVER EARLY ACTIVITY THURSDAY EVENING...STRONG UPPER RIDGING IS EXPECTED TO DRIVE INTO NORTH TEXAS FROM THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY...FOR AN END TO POPS. IN THE EXTENDED...HAVE LEFT PREVIOUS PACKAGE MENTION OF AFTERNOON AND EVENING POPS SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY FAR EAST AND SOUTHEAST. SOME MEDIUM RANGE MODELS SHIFT THE UPPER RIDGE TO THE WEST...ALLOWING ENERGY TO SLIP INTO THE SOUTH AS A MAIN UPPER TROUGH MOVES INTO THE EAST. THERE IS CONSIDERABLE DISAGREEMENT WITH SOME MEDIUM RANGE MODELS...NOTING THE ECMWF ESPECIALLY. THIS IS PRECISELY WHY WE HAVE SLIGHT CHANCES. FCSTID = 30 DFW 69 92 71 96 / 50 20 20 0 ACT 66 90 72 96 / 50 30 20 0 PRX 68 90 70 94 / 30 20 0 0 DTO 65 92 70 96 / 50 20 0 0 TKI 67 92 71 95 / 50 20 0 0 DAL 69 92 71 96 / 50 20 20 0 TRL 67 90 71 95 / 30 20 0 0 CRS 66 92 72 96 / 30 20 20 0 TPL 67 88 72 96 / 50 30 20 0 .FWD...NONE.
TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-141100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 355 PM CDT WED AUG 13 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR NORTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE... THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS ALL OF NORTH TEXAS THROUGH MIDNIGHT. DAMAGING DOWNBURST WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH...AND HAIL TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS WILL BE THE SEVERE WEATHER THREATS. FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN WILL ALSO ACCOMPANY MANY OF THE STORMS. REMEMBER LIGHTNING CAN STRIKE OVER 10 MILES FROM THE PARENT THUNDERSTORM. IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER...YOU ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO GET STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. IF POSSIBLE...MOVE INDOORS AS STORMS APPROACH. ALTHOUGH WIDESPREAD RAIN OF OVER 2 INCHES IS NOT EXPECTED...RUNOFF FROM THE LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN MAY ALSO RESULT IN SOME URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THERE WILL BE A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS ALL OF NORTH TEXAS ON THURSDAY. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL ALSO BE POSSIBLE SOUTHEAST OF A LINE FROM TEMPLE TO ATHENS ON SUNDAY THROUGH TUESDAY AFTERNOONS. SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT ANTICIPATED. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE REQUIRED ACROSS PARTS OF NORTH TEXAS THROUGH MIDNIGHT.
The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 22 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 21:28 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A lightning started fire damaged a Radio Shack store in Keller.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, August 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: 5379260.