1 hail, 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 Midland/Odessa, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 21, 1:30 PM CST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 130 PM CST FRI MAR 21 2003 MAIN CONCERN OF THIS FORECAST PACKAGE WILL BE THE PROSPECTS OF A WIDESPREAD RAIN EVENT WITH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS OVERNIGHT. A VIGOROUS MID AND UPPER LEVEL TROUGH IS CENTERED OVER SOUTHWEST NEW MEXICO. GREATEST SURFACE PRESSURE FALLS ARE CURRENTLY OVER THE SOUTHERN BIG BEND...WITH SURFACE WINDS RESPONDING ACROSS THE REGION. LATEST RADAR TRENDS SHOW CONVECTION ON THE INCREASE ACROSS WESTERN PARTS OF THE FA...THIS AS IR CHANNEL INDICATES INCREASING ENHANCEMENT/LIFT BETWEEN KELP AND KGDP. THE SYSTEM IS EXPECTED TO DIG OVER THE NEXT 6 HOURS OR SO...AS JET STREAK NOTED ON IR CHANNEL OVER SOUTHERN NEVADA MOVES INTO THE TROUGH BASE. THIS WILL RESULT IN THE AREA OF BEST DYNAMICAL LIFT MOVING FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE CENTRAL PARTS OF THE OUR CWA TONIGHT. MAIN QUESTION IS THE AVAILABILITY OF LOW LEVEL MOISTURE. THE COLUMN IS MOISTENING FROM TOP DOWN...BUT DECENTLY RICH GULF MOISTURE IS NO WHERE TO BE FOUND. DEW POINTS SHOULD BE AROUND 40 ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF THE AREA BY THIS EVENING. THIS COMBINED WITH COLD MID LEVEL TEMPS WOULD YIELD CAPE VALUES LESS THAN 1000 J/KG...AND LIS AROUND -2 ACROSS THE SOUTH WHEN PARCEL IS LIFTED FROM AROUND 850MB. LACK OF MOISTURE AND LIMITED INSTABILITY SHOULD HELP PRECLUDE ANYTHING MORE THAN ISOLATED SEVERE EVENTS. THESE WILL LIKELY OCCUR IN THE FORM OF LOCALIZED DAMAGING WINDS PER DEEP INVERTED V STRUCTURE NOTED ON FORECAST SOUNDINGS. WET BULB ZERO HEIGHTS ARE IN THE 8-8.5KFT RANGE HOWEVER...SO CAN NOT RULE OUT AN ISOLATED MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL REPORT IF A DECENT UPDRAFT CAN GET ORGANIZED. DESPITE THE MAGNITUDE OF LIFT...WE ARE CURRENTLY NOT OVERLY EXCITED ABOUT LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN POTENTIAL WITH RELATIVELY DRY PBL AND OTHERWISE MARGINAL MOISTURE CONTENTS. RAIN SHOULD BE EXITING THE EASTERN ZONES AROUND SUNRISE SATURDAY. NEXT TROUGH IS EXPECTED TO IMPACT THE AREA MONDAY. THIS WILL BE A WEAKER FEATURE THAN CURRENT. SOME GUIDANCE INDICATES A DRYLINE MAY BE IN PROXIMITY TO THE EASTERN ZONES JUST AHEAD OF THIS FEATURE. BEST CHANCES FOR PRECIP SHOULD CERTAINLY BE EAST OF OUR AREA...BUT WE WILL MENTION A SLIGHT CHANCE OF THUNDER IN THE FAR EAST MONDAY PM FOR GOOD MEASURE. A MUCH MORE SIGNIFICANT STORM SYSTEM IS PROGGED TO AFFECT THE AREA BY THE LAST DAY OF THE EXTENDED. IF CURRENT MODEL TRENDS HOLD...FRIDAY MAY BRING A SIGNIFICANT WIND EVENT IN THE MOUNTAINS AND PERHAPS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF STORMS IN THE EAST. PRELIMS: MAF BU 45/65 44/73 46 8100 CNM UU 40/67 40/77 42 4000 MRF UU 36/67 34/73 38 4000 FST BU 45/66 45/77 46 6100 .MAF... TX...NONE. NM...NONE. LINDLEY
NMZ027>029-033-034-TXZ045>048-050>053-057>063-067>070-074-075- 079>082-258-221100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX 245 PM CST FRI MAR 21 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT SCATTERED NON-SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEASTERN NEW MEXICO WILL PRODUCE OCCASIONAL DEADLY LIGHTNING THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED. TECHNICAL DISCUSSION... A STRONG UPPER LEVEL SHORTWAVE TROUGH WILL MOVE ACROSS SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO AND INTO THE LOWER TRANS PECOS TONIGHT. COLD 500MB TEMPERATURES NEAR -20C ASSOCIATED WITH THIS LOW WILL INCREASE 700- 500MB LAPSE RATES TO 7-8C/KM TONIGHT. FORECAST SOUNDINGS ARE SHOWING AN INVERTED V AND LOW WET-BULB ZERO HEIGHTS SUGGESTING A FEW STORMS MAY PRODUCE SEVERE WIND GUSTS AND MARGINALLY SEVERE HAIL. PLATT
The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 80 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 00:01 UTC.
1 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Convection was widespread during the evening of the 21st. An isolated severe thunderstorm developed within a broad area of precipitation. This storm produced penny size hail at Forsan which accumulated three to five inches deep. Some of the hail remained in drifts beside houses as late as mid-morning on the 22nd.
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, March 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: 5344661.