The 1903 season

Unnamed hurricane (1903)

Unnamed hurricane reached Category 2 in the North Atlantic between September 12, 1903 and September 17, 1903, with a lowest pressure of 990 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Unnamed hurricane, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 1903 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

Open the live map with storms, cones and warnings

The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
September 12, 1903 to September 17, 1903
Peak strength
Category 2, 85 kt (98 mph)
Lowest pressure
990 mb (29.23 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
9.3
Fastest the center moved
21 kt (24 mph)
Identifier
AL041903

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads publishes a machine-readable casualty or damage figure for a storm of this era. The National Hurricane Center’s season tables begin in 1995 and carry deaths and damage only from 2005 in the Atlantic and 2020 in both basins; the US Storm Events record begins in 1996.

Landfall

Time (UTC)WherePositionWindPressure
Sep 16, 11:00Avalon, NJ, 2 km away39.1N 74.7W70 kt (81 mph)990 mb

Landfall points the US agencies flagged in the best track. The nearest town is named from the site’s gazetteer, not from the report.

Track

Time (UTC)PositionWindPressureStatus
Sep 12, 00:0022.5N 55.6W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 12, 06:0023.3N 56.4W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 12, 12:0024.2N 57.3W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 12, 18:0025.4N 58.7W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 13, 00:0026.5N 60.4W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 13, 06:0027.4N 62.2W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 13, 12:0028.0N 64.0W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 13, 18:0028.4N 65.2W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 14, 00:0028.8N 66.5W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 14, 06:0029.1N 67.8W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 14, 12:0029.5N 69.0W60 ktTropical storm
Sep 14, 18:0030.1N 70.3W65 ktHurricane
Sep 15, 00:0030.8N 71.5W70 ktHurricane
Sep 15, 06:0031.6N 72.6W75 ktHurricane
Sep 15, 12:0032.5N 73.3W80 ktHurricane
Sep 15, 18:0034.1N 74.0W85 ktHurricane
Sep 16, 00:0036.2N 74.5W80 ktHurricane
Sep 16, 06:0038.0N 74.6W75 ktHurricane
Sep 16, 11:00 landfall39.1N 74.7W70 kt990 mbHurricane
Sep 16, 12:0039.3N 74.7W70 kt990 mbHurricane
Sep 16, 18:0040.3N 75.0W55 ktTropical storm
Sep 17, 00:0041.1N 75.5W55 ktTropical storm
Sep 17, 06:0041.9N 76.3W45 ktTropical storm
Sep 17, 12:0043.0N 77.0W40 ktExtratropical
Sep 17, 18:0044.8N 77.0W30 ktExtratropical

Other North Atlantic storms of 1903

What this means

A best track is the record a warning agency settles on after the storm, not what it said at the time: position, maximum sustained wind and central pressure every six hours, revised against every observation that came in later. Category is the Saffir-Simpson scale, which runs from Category 1 at 64 kt to Category 5 at 137 kt and reads wind only, so it says nothing about surge or rain. Accumulated cyclone energy adds up the square of the wind through the storm's life, so it counts strength and duration together.

Sources

Storm history from NOAA NCEI’s International Best Track Archive for Climate Stewardship (IBTrACS), which merges the official best track of every warning agency. Live storms, cones, watches and warnings from the National Hurricane Center and the Central Pacific Hurricane Center. Archived radar from NOAA’s Level II archive.

The National Hurricane Center has published no tropical cyclone report for this storm.