1 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 Seattle, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Oct 15, 1:45 PM PST, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA 245 PM PDT WED OCT 15 2003 .SYNOPSIS...A FRONT MOVING THROUGH THE AREA THIS EVENING WILL LEAVE SHOWERS IN ITS WAKE. A RAINY AND BLUSTERY PATTERN WILL DEVELOP THURSDAY AND CONTINUE THROUGH SATURDAY...WITH A STRONG SOUTHWEST JET STREAM DIRECTING SEVERAL VIGOROUS FRONTAL SYSTEMS THROUGH THE REGION. A RIDGE WILL BUILD OVER THE PACIFIC NORTHWEST EARLY NEXT WEEK FOR DRIER WEATHER. && .DISCUSSION...FRONT JUST ABOUT AT PUGET SOUND AT 2 PM. SOME CLEARING AND SHOWERS INSTEAD OF RAIN FOR 6 OR 12 HOURS...THEN NEXT SYSTEM BARRELING ACROSS THE PACIFIC ARRIVES. THIS WILL BE THE FIRST OF SEVERAL WAVES REACHING US OVER THE NEXT 3 DAYS. JET STREAM IS RIGHT OVER US...WAVERS BACK AND FORTH...AND 850 MB FLOW IS SW 50KT PLUS INTO THE OLYMPICS AND NORTH CASCADES. THIS IS A VERY WET PATTERN FOR WESTERN WASHINGTON. FLOOD WATCH ISSUED FOR RIVERS FLOWING OFF THE OLYMPICS AND NORTH CASCADES. MM5-GFS HAS 10+ INCHES OVER THE COURSE OF THE STORM IN THE OLYMPICS. FREEZING LEVEL 10K-11K. GOOD FLOOD PATTERN. PLENTY OF PCPN...NONE OF IT IN THE FORM OF SNOW. .EXTENDED...TROUGH FINALLY SWINGS THROUGH ON SAT OR SUN FOR CHANGE TO SHOWERS AND COOLER TEMPS. THREAT OF NEW FLOODING SHOULD END AROUND THEN. AT 120 HRS GFS HAS A WARM FRONT MOVING SOUTH TO NORTH THROUGH WESTERN WASHINGTON. NATIONAL GUYS DISCOUNTED THIS BUT WENT WITH A CHANCE OF RAIN ON MONDAY. THEN A DRY PATTERN WITH A BIG RIDGE. BY THEN...THAT WOULD BE A NICE CHANGE. BURKE && .SEW...FLOOD WATCH OLYMPICS AND NORTH CASCADES RIVERS. GALE WARNING COAST...STRAIT ENTRANCES...ADMIRALTY INLET...CAMANO ISLAND TO POINT ROBERTS. .KATX...VCP21/CSR21...OPERATIONAL. &&
WAZ001>018-161400- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SEATTLE WA 400 PM PDT WED OCT 15 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE NORTHERN AND CENTRAL PARTS OF WESTERN WASHINGTON .DAY ONE... TODAY GALE FORCE WINDS ARE EXPECTED ALONG THE NORTH AND CENTRAL COAST TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THURSDAY THROUGH TUESDAY GALE FORCE WINDS ARE EXPECTED AT TIMES THURSDAY THROUGH SATURDAY ALONG THE NORTH AND CENTRAL COAST...AT THE ENTRANCES TO THE STRAIT OF JUAN DE FUCA...IN ADMIRALTY INLET...AND OVER THE NORTHERN INLAND WATERS FROM CAMANO ISLAND TO POINT ROBERTS. PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN OVER THE OLYMPIC MOUNTAINS AND NORTH CASCADE MOUNTAINS THURSDAY AND FRIDAY COULD DRIVE RIVERS RUNNING OFF THE OLYMPICS AND NORTH CASCADES ABOVE FLOOD STAGE LATE THURSDAY OR FRIDAY.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A weak tornado, on the ground for less than a minute, damaged a few power lines and knocked down some tree limbs.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Washington in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Washington, 2003Warnings in Washington, October 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: 5371261.