Hurricane Fabian (2003)

Basin

North Atlantic

Dates

August 27, 2003 to September 9, 2003

Peak strength

Category 4, 125 kt (144 mph)

Lowest pressure

939 mb (27.73 inHg)

Landfall

No; closest approach 475 km (295 mi)

Accumulated cyclone energy

43.2

Tropical-storm-force wind reached

300 nmi (556 km, 345 mi) from the center at its widest

Eyewall radius at its peak

10 nmi (19 km, 12 mi)

Overall size

270 nmi (500 km, 311 mi) to the outermost closed isobar

Fastest the center moved

43 kt (49 mph)

Identifier

AL102003

The sources count different things and are not added together.

NOAA’s Storm Events database, the record National Weather Service offices compile months after a storm, as compiled March 2026.

Deaths

2 (2 direct, 0 indirect)

Injuries

0

Property damage

$30,000

Crop damage

none recorded

Events recorded

3 in 2 reports from 2 states and marine areas

State by state

What was recorded

2 high surf, 1 rip current.

From the Storm Events narratives, unedited.

Dare County Emergency Management reported a rip current drowning of a Maryland man near Cape Hatteras. Swells generated from Hurricane Fabian, which was 875 miles southeast of the Outer Banks, caused heavy surf and rip currents across the entire Eastern North Carolina coastline.

Dare, North Carolina · Rip Current · Sep 4, 22:00 UTC

• Tropical Storm AnaNorth Atlantic · 2003Tropical Storm50 kt · 994 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 2003Tropical Depression30 kt · 1008 mb
• Tropical Storm BillNorth Atlantic · 2003Tropical Storm50 kt · 997 mb
• Hurricane ClaudetteNorth Atlantic · 2003Cat 180 kt · 979 mb
• Hurricane DannyNorth Atlantic · 2003Cat 165 kt · 1000 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 2003Tropical Depression30 kt · 1010 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 2003Tropical Depression30 kt · 1016 mb
• Hurricane ErikaNorth Atlantic · 2003 · 2 deaths · $12,000Cat 165 kt · 986 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 2003Tropical Depression30 kt · 1007 mb
• Tropical Storm GraceNorth Atlantic · 2003Tropical Storm35 kt · 1007 mb
• Tropical Storm HenriNorth Atlantic · 2003Tropical Storm50 kt · 997 mb
• Hurricane IsabelNorth Atlantic · 2003Cat 5145 kt · 915 mb
• Unnamed tropical depressionNorth Atlantic · 2003Tropical Depression30 kt · 1007 mb
• Hurricane JuanNorth Atlantic · 2003Cat 290 kt · 969 mb
• Hurricane KateNorth Atlantic · 2003Cat 3110 kt · 952 mb
• Tropical Storm LarryNorth Atlantic · 2003Tropical Storm55 kt · 993 mb
• Tropical Storm MindyNorth Atlantic · 2003Tropical Storm40 kt · 1002 mb
• Tropical Storm NicholasNorth Atlantic · 2003Tropical Storm60 kt · 990 mb
• Tropical Storm OdetteNorth Atlantic · 2003Tropical Storm55 kt · 993 mb
• Tropical Storm PeterNorth Atlantic · 2003Tropical Storm60 kt · 990 mb

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.

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.

• Tropical cyclone report, National Hurricane Center
• Every advisory and discussion NHC issued while it was live
• Wikipedia article: Hurricane Fabian