NATIONAL STORM SUMMARY

JUNE 2003

1st-7th...Thunderstorms and locally heavy showers spread across the Plains and
the
Mississippi Valley on Monday, pouring more than 2 inches of rain on parts of
Oklahoma. A strong low pressure moving through the southern Plains states
produced the wet weather that stretched from Texas into the Dakotas. The
heaviest rain spread from eastern sections of Kansas and Oklahoma through
Missouri and Arkansas, extending into western sections of Tennessee and
Kentucky by late afternoon. By midday, Claremore, OK, had measured 2.38 inches
of rain, with 1.98 inches at Fort Smith, AR; 1.55 at Springfield, MO; 1.62 at
Olathe,
KS, and 1.94 at Memphis, TN.
Much of the Mid-Atlantic and the Northeast was bleak and unseasonably cool
Wednesday, and showers were scattered across much of the rest of the nation as
well. Rain fell from Richmond, VA, to Washington, D.C., to New York City and
southern New England. Most of the showers were light, but flood watches were in
effect in much of New Jersey and parts of New York state because days of wet
weather had saturated the ground.

8th-14th...Thunderstorms spread through the Mississippi into the Gulf Coast
states and the Ohio Valley on Wednesday. The storms moved out of eastern
Oklahoma and Kansas early in the day, spreading through Missouri and Arkansas
into southern Illinois and Kentucky. Parts of Oklahoma had severe storms during
the night, with scattered power outages, and 2.16 inches of rain at Norman
caused street flooding. By mid-afternoon, scattered storms had spread across
Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Tennessee, and moved through Kentucky into
southern West Virginia. Isolated thunderstorms developed in parts of Georgia,
the Carolinas and southern Florida.
Much of the country got at least a little wet Friday, although parts of the
central and southwestern United States were dry. Areas of northern, central and
western Texas were hit with many showers and strong to severe thunderstorms, as
well as a couple of tornado sightings. Hail 2.75 inches in diameter was
reported in Boys Ranch, Texas. Heavy rainfall in Missouri combined with already
saturated ground prompted flood warnings near St. Louis, which received close
to an inch of rain. The Northeast, Southeast and Gulf Coast received scattered
showers and thunderstorms and mostly cloudy skies. Illinois, Indiana, Ohio,
Kentucky, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Virginia saw similar weather, with
gusty winds, locally heavy rainfall and frequent lightning.

15-21st...Rain, heavy at times, lashed parts of the East on Monday. A line of
showers and thunderstorms stretched from the Mid-Atlantic to the western Gulf
of Mexico, bringing flooding to West Virginia, Ohio and neighboring states. Up
to 6 inches of rain drenched the area between Cincinnati and Dayton. Severe
storms also swept through Texas and Louisiana, with flash flood warnings in
Arkansas.

Showers settled again Tuesday over the Southeast and Gulf Coast. The heaviest
rains were reported in Arkansas, where flooding and flash flooding occurred. By
mid-afternoon, Little Rock recorded 1.67 inches of moisture and was bracing for
another band of thunderstorms. More moderate amounts, less than a half-inch,
were reported across the central Gulf Coast and in Ohio, West Virginia and
Kentucky. An isolated storm in the morning, however, left parts of Hindman, KY,
under water.
More heavy rain was forecast Wednesday as residents of the central Appalachians
cleared mud and debris caused by flash floods. Gov. Bob Wise toured
flood-damaged areas in southern West Virginia. Over the past week, at least
six deaths had been blamed on the floods: a 10-year-old boy in West Virginia; a
6-year-old girl in Kentucky; a cave explorer in Kentucky, and three members of
one family in North Carolina. Rain delayed the search Wednesday for the body of
an 8-year-old boy who was in the same car as the three North Carolina victims.
Parts of Georgia received heavy rain for the second night in a row, with more
than 2 inches in some areas, prompting the evacuation early Wednesday of 22
people in the town of LaGrange. In West Virginia, officials estimated nearly
200 houses were destroyed or heavily damaged by flooding Monday and on June 11
in and around Charleston. More than 60 homes were ruined or severely damaged in
nearby Boone County, where as much as 5 inches of rain fell Monday. Flood
damage to West Virginia highways was estimated at $2.5 million to $3 million,
said Randy Epperly, deputy state highway engineer for the state Division of
Highways.
A sluggish cold front brought mostly cloudy skies to the East on Thursday.
Scattered showers and thunderstorms dampened the Mid-Atlantic, Tennessee
Valley, southern Ohio Valley and Appalachians. Most rainfall amounts were less
than a half-inch. Farther south, showers and thunderstorms drenched Florida,
with the town of Brooksville recording 3.59 inches of rain.

22nd-30th...Tornadoes, up to a foot of rain and hail as big as cantaloupes
pounded southern Nebraska and northern Kansas, killing one man and leveling at
least four homes. Residents were stranded by flooding and hundreds of homes and
businesses were damaged. Much of Deshler, where four tornadoes hit Sunday
evening, remained without electricity and water Monday, and phone circuits were
overloaded. One man died in the wreckage of a flattened workshop and seven
other people were injured in Deshler, about 75 miles southwest of Lincoln near
the Kansas line, Mayor Alan Holle said. Radar indicated 6 to 13 inches of rain
throughout the county, the weather service said. Authorities also knew of at
least seven people stranded in their homes by flooding, Johanns' spokesman
Chris Peterson said. Aurora, about 70 miles west of Lincoln, was battered by
hailstones measuring 4 1/2 inches across Sunday. At least one hailstone was the
size of a cantaloupe, measuring 6 1/2 inches in diameter, said Ryan McCammon, a
National Weather Service meteorologist in Hastings.
Thunderstorms rolled across the upper Midwest on Tuesday with strong wind, and
afternoon thunderstorms formed along parts of the Gulf Coast. Strong
thunderstorms and heavy showers raced across the Dakotas, Minnesota, Iowa,
Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula during the morning, then largely
dissipated as they moved across Lake Superior. The storms produced heavy rain,
frequent lightning, hail and high wind. Wind blew off roofs and snapped
branches and power lines in western Iowa early in the morning, especially at
the small town of Auburn, authorities said. In Minnesota, some 36,000 customers
lost power in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area, Xcel Energy said.
During the heat of the afternoon, scattered thunderstorms formed quickly along
the Gulf of Mexico, from Texas across coastal sections of Louisiana,
Mississippi and Alabama, part of the Florida Panhandle and southern Florida.
Locally heavy rain spread across the Upper Midwest early Wednesday, and
thunderstorms rushed out of the Plains into the Mississippi Valley during the
afternoon. The rain moved out of the Dakotas and across Minnesota into
Wisconsin and Upper Michigan during the morning. Within the area of showers,
thunderstorms developed from eastern Nebraska across northern Iowa and southern
Minnesota into northern Wisconsin. During the afternoon, a band of concentrated
thunderstorms formed across eastern Kansas, northern and central Missouri, much
of Iowa and southern Wisconsin. A few storms also extended southward into
Arkansas.
Severe storms raked the upper Midwest, spawning tornadoes that tore up houses
and a church in Minnesota and wiped out a cluster of rural homes in South
Dakota. Hardest hit was the town of Buffalo Lake, MN, although no major
injuries were reported. Ten to 15 homes were nearly leveled in Buffalo Lake, a
town of about 770 people, Police Chief Greg Gowan said Wednesday on CBS's "The
Early Show". In eastern South Dakota, four people were injured when a tornado
struck tiny Manchester, a rural community where six people lived in three
houses. A couple of farmhouses to the north of Manchester were also leveled,
said ingsbury County Sheriff Charles Smith. In Nebraska, at least eight
twisters struck as storms roared across the state for a third straight day, but
no deaths or injuries were reported there. A barn was damaged outside Newport
near the South Dakota line and three homes in the community of about 100 had
minor damage. In North Dakota, high wind blew over four tractor-trailer rigs on
Interstate 29 north of Fargo, the Highway Patrol said. The wind also knocked
down 25 towers supporting a high-voltage power line, said Minnkota Power
Cooperative. Power was rerouted and customers weren't affected.
Tropical Storm Bill pounded the Gulf Coast on Monday, spinning off a tornado
that injured four people, forcing evacuations and leaving at least 11,000 homes
and businesses without power. The storm swamped the streets of New Orleans'
French Quarter and prompted crews to slam shut the floodgates protecting the
low-lying city. Louisiana Gov. Mike Foster declared a statewide emergency, and
Mississippi Gov. Ronnie Musgrove declared an emergency in three southern
counties. One person was seriously hurt and three suffered minor injuries when
the tornado tore up a trailer home in Reserve, 38 miles from New Orleans.
Twenty other trailer homes and a private school gym also were damaged, said Van
Gilmore, assistant director of civil defense in St. John the Baptist Parish.
Three fishing vessels in Cat Island Pass, about 60 miles south of New Orleans,
called for help and three Coast Guard helicopters flew out to find them, Petty
Officer Jonathan McCool said. About 11,000 Entergy customers were without power
late Monday afternoon, spokesman Chanel Lagarde said. Bill, the second tropical
storm of the year, had sustained wind of about 60 mph, well short of the 74 mph
hurricane threshold. It spread rain across southeastern Louisiana, Mississippi,
Alabama and the Florida Panhandle.