2003 Storm Photos

The 2003 severe weather season was one of the most active on record. Severe weather slammed portions of the lower Mississippi Valley during Presidents Day weekend (14-16 Feb), bringing tornadoes and damaging winds to portions of southeast Mississippi. The season heated up in April, with tornadic supercell thunderstorms wreaking havoc along the I-20 corridor through central Mississippi on April 5. The activity shifted to the coast on April 6, with a funnel cloud appearing over Biloxi. From May 1 to May 10, there were more than 400 confirmed tornadoes from the Central Plains to the Great Lakes and southward to the Gulf Coast, making this the largest tornado outbreak since 1974 Super Outbreak. Click on the thumbnails for full-size images.

MARCH 26: Shelf cloud associated with squall line as it approaches Keesler AFB, Mississippi.	MARCH 26: As soon as the shelf cloud passes overhead comes the blinding rain and pea-size hail.	MARCH 26: Some small hail produced by the thunderstorm.
APRIL 5: Now heading north on Highway 13 after two hours in US Highway 49. The supercell is ahead in the distance as I approach Puckett, Mississippi.	APRIL 5: I turned west on Route 18 at Puckett hoping I could intercept the storm as it hit Brandon. The storm was tracking parallel to Interstate 20.	APRIL 5: Continuing west on Highway 18, approaching Brandon with the storm moving off to the right. I had to jump on Interstate 20 to get ahead of the storm at Morton, about 20 miles east.
APRIL 5: Punching the core of a tornadic supercell (something I would NOT recommend doing), heading north on Route 13 toward Forkville. The road just beyond this photo was covered with downed tree limbs. I have to admit I was a bit nervous at this point, since the storm was producing a tornado, and I could not see it nor did I know its location.	APRIL 5: Torrential rain in the core of the supercell. Result: the road in front of me is flooded.	APRIL 5: Flash flooding is common with supercellsso is hail, as seen here along Highway 13 approaching Forkville.
APRIL 5: I stopped at the intersection of Highways 13 and 483 near Forkville, Mississippi to see how big the hailstones were…about 0.75 inch diameter.	APRIL 5: Continuing north on Highway 483, the storm had dumped about 2-3 inches of hail in the vicinity of Forkville.	APRIL 5: Although no longer in the core of the supercell, there's still blinding rain in the rear flank while heading southwest on Highway 25 near Ludlow, Mississippi.
APRIL 6: A well-developed squall line was moving into the Biloxi area. There was very strong rotation and LLWS associated with the storm as it approached.	APRIL 6: Swirling clouds clearly show a strong rotating updraft associated with this particular cell, as evidenced in this photo.	APRIL 6: The rotating updraft core continues to migrate eastward. Lowering of the base marks the beginning of tornadogenesis.
APRIL 6: Minutes later the rain-free base in the previous photos evolves into this funnel cloud. It never becomes a tornado, since the condensation funnel never touches down. It dissipates after about 5 minutes.	APRIL 6: The enitre storm makes its way off to the eastits leading edge over the Gulf of Mexico on the distant horizon.	APRIL 6: Well-defined shelf cloud over the Gulf of Mexico marks the leading edge of the thunderstorm cell.