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 Salt Lake City, UT wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 14, 9:00 AM MST, 4 hours 30 minutes earlier.
UTAH AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT 1000 AM MDT THU AUG 14 2003 .SYNOPSIS...A MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS WILL BE OVER SOUTHERN AND EASTERN UTAH TODAY. THE MOISTURE WILL SPREAD ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA BY LATE FRIDAY AND REMAIN THROUGH THE WEEKEND. .DISCUSSION...EASTERLIES ARE SPREADING INTO THE FORECAST AREA THIS MORNING AHEAD OF THE LARGE CLOSED LOW CHUGGING SLOWLY WESTWARD ACROSS NORTHERN MEXICO. CONVERGENCE AT THE LEADING EDGE OF THE EASTERLY FLOW HAS BEEN PRODUCING A BAND OF CLOUDS AND ISOLATED CONVECTION. EXPECT A FAIRLY ACTIVE DAY AREA WIDE TODAY BETWEEN THE CONVERGENCE ZONE AS IT TRACKS WESTWARD AND THE MOIST UNSTABLE AIRMASS BEHIND IT. THE BEST MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY IS FORECAST TO BE OVER THE SOUTHEAST TODAY. THIS AREA HAS CLEARED OUT AND SHOULD FILL IN THIS AFTERNOON AS DAYTIME HEATING CHARGES UP THE CONVECTION. POTENTIAL DOES EXIST FOR LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS BUT CELLS WILL BE MOVING SO WILL HOLD OFF ON FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR NOW. DRIER AIR OVER CENTRAL COLORADO THIS MORNING LIFTS INTO NORTHERN UT FRIDAY AS FLOW VEERS AROUND TO SOUTHEAST OVER THE SOUTH AND DEEP EASTERLIES DEVELOP OVER THE NORTH AROUND THE HIGH THAT BY THIS TIME HAS SHIFTED INTO MT. THERE IS SOME SUPPORT FOR AN EAST WIND EVENT ALONG THE WASATCH FRONT TONIGHT AND FRIDAY MORNING THEN THE SOUTHEASTERLIES SPREAD UP INTO NRN UT LATE FRI AND SHUT OFF THE SUPPORT. ALTHO FRIDAY MAY BE LESS ACTIVE OVER THE FAR NORTH...THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA SHOULD SEE QUITE A BIT OF CONVECTION AND THE POTENTIAL OF ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAIN. CONVECTION WILL PROBABLY SPREAD INTO THE NORTH FRI EVE AND SAT SHOULD BE ANOTHER ACTIVE DAY AREA WIDE. CURRENT PACKAGE SEEMS TO COVER THE SITUATION FOR NOW AND NO UPDATES PLANNED. SLC 234 CDC 345 WILENSKY .SLC...NONE.
IDZ024-025-UTZ001>021-WYZ021-151300- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT 700 AM MDT THU AUG 14 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE WESTERN TWO-THIRDS OF UTAH...EXTREME SOUTHEAST IDAHO AND EXTREME SOUTHWEST WYOMING .DAY ONE... TODAY DEEP MOISTURE AND LIGHT WINDS WILL ALLOW SLOW MOVING THUNDERSTORMS TO PRODUCE LOCAL HEAVY RAIN OVER MUCH OF SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL UTAH TODAY. THE GREATEST RISK APPEARS TO BE EAST OF HIGHWAY 89 AND SOUTH OF PRICE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY A VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS WILL REMAIN OVER THE AREA AT LEAST THROUGH THE WEEKEND. THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN THIS AIRMASS WILL BE ABLE TO PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN AND MAY BE MOVING SLOWLY ENOUGH AT TIMES TO PRODUCE FLASH FLOODING...ESPECIALLY IN DRAINAGES THAT ARE PREDOMINANTLY ROCKY AND IN AREAS WHERE FIRES HAVE REMOVED MOST OF THE VEGETATION. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... WEATHER SPOTTERS ARE ENCOURAGED TO REPORT SIGNIFICANT WEATHER CONDITIONS ACCORDING TO STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE. WCJIN-WYSW
UTZ004-008>021-142200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SALT LAKE CITY UT 1040 AM MDT THU AUG 14 2003 ...LOCAL HEAVY RAINS POSSIBLE OVER SOUTHERN UTAH... A VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR MASS OVER MUCH OF SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL UTAH TODAY WILL REMAIN OVER THE AREA THROUGH AT LEAST SATURDAY. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP EACH AFTERNOON AND EVENING...WITH SOME OF THESE PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN. THE MOVEMENT OF THE THUNDERSTORMS TODAY WILL BE TOWARDS THE WEST. THE SPEED AT WHICH THE STORMS MOVE MAY BE SLOW ENOUGH TO PRODUCE FLASH FLOODING IN SOME AREAS. THE AREA OF GREATEST RISK WOULD BE OVER AND EAST OF THE MOUNTAINS SOUTH OF ABOUT PRICE AND EAST OF HIGHWAY 89. THIS INCLUDES CAPITOL REEF NATIONAL PARK...THE GRAND STAIRCASE ESCALANTE NATIONAL MONUMENT...THE SAN RAFAEL SWELL AND THE GLEN CANYON NATIONAL RECREATION AREA INCLUDING LAKE POWELL. EVERYONE IN THESE AREAS IS URGED TO MAINTAIN A HEIGHTENED AWARENESS OF THE WEATHER TODAY AND MONITOR THEIR FAVORITE SOURCE OF WEATHER INFORMATION FOR POSSIBLE FLASH FLOOD WATCHES OR WARNINGS. THOSE HIKING OR CAMPING IN THE AREA SHOULD AVOID HIGH RISK AREAS... ESPECIALLY NARROW SLOT CANYONS WHERE NO ESCAPE ROUTES ARE AVAILABLE.
The Salt Lake City radar (KMTX), 133 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:28 UTC.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
A 20-year-old woman was killed and her grandparents injured when they were struck by lightning while hiking to the Deadhorse lake area in the high Uintas.
As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.
| Event | Date | Age | Sex | Where | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lightning, Summit | 2003-08-14 | 20 | Female | Outside/Open Areas | Direct |
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Utah in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Utah, 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: 5380002.