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 Seattle, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 17, 1:00 PM PST, 3 hours 30 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA 200 PM PDT SAT MAY 17 2003 .SYNOPSIS...AN UNSEASONABLY COOL UPPER LEVEL TROUGH WILL MAINTAIN AN UNSTABLE AIR MASS OVER THE REGION TONIGHT. THE TROUGH WILL MOVE EAST ON SUNDAY...AND A RIDGE WILL BEGIN TO BUILD TOWARD THE REGION. A FRONT WILL BRING A CHANCE OF RAIN TO THE AREA TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY. A RIDGE OF HIGH PRESSURE WILL BUILD OVER THE PACIFIC FOR THURSDAY AND FRIDAY. A FRONTAL SYSTEM WILL REACH THE REGION SATURDAY. .DISCUSSION...SHOWERS LIKELY THRU THE EVENING. STILL A CHANCE OF SHOWERS SUNDAY. CHC OF TSTMS W/ ICE PELLETS THIS EVENING. AMS STABILIZES AND WARMS THRU MONDAY AS RIDGE BUILDS IN...STRONG SFC HIGH PRES OVER AREA FOR LIGHT WINDS MONDAY W/ THERMAL TROF OVER ORE. GFS KEEPS PUTTING QUITE A BIT OF RAIN ON THE NORTH COAST LATER TUESDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...COULD BE WAY OVERDONE H5 HEIGHTS LOOK RATHER HIGH. WILL THROW JUST A CHANCE OF RAIN INTO THE FCST FOR MOST OF WRN WA THEN. WED AFTERNOON THROUGH MIDDAY FRIDAY SHUD BE QUITE NICE. THEN THE GFS BRINGS A VIGOROUS SYSTEM INTO THE REGION THIS WEEKEND. MANY OF THE ENSEMBLE SOLUTIONS HOLD ON TO A STRONGER RIDGE...AND EVEN KEEP THE RIDGE AXIS RIGHT OVER US THRU THE END OF THE WEEK...SO ONLY AM SHOWING A CHANCE OF RAIN FRI NITE AND SAT. MM UIL 6411 SEA 6411 OLM 6411 .KSEW...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CENTRAL STRAIT AND E ENTRANCE. .KATX...VCP11/CSR21...OPERATIONAL.
WAZ001>018-181400- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA 530 AM PDT SAT MAY 17 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PARTS OF WESTERN WASHINGTON .DAY ONE... TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY THE SNOW LEVEL IN THE MOUNTAINS WILL BE UNSEASONABLY LOW THROUGH SUNDAY...BETWEEN 2500 AND 3500 FEET WITH SNOW OVER THE PASSES. OTHERWISE...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. MCDONNAL
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA
0507 PM PDT SAT MAY 17 2003
TIME(PDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0505 PM 10 SE YELM WA 0.50 IN HAIL
05/17/03 THURSTON
ALBRECHTThe national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 lightning. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning struck just outside a mobile home, causing a little damage to it and to a nearby tree. A woman inside the home was temporarily paralyzed from the waist down.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Washington, 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: 5355860.