The 2003 season

Hurricane Juan (2003)

Hurricane Juan reached Category 2 in the North Atlantic between September 24, 2003 and September 29, 2003, with a lowest pressure of 969 mb, and made landfall.

Track and intensity

The whole track of Hurricane Juan, colored by strength, with the other storms of the 2003 season in the same basin behind it, and its wind and pressure hour by hour. Every fix is in the track table below.

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The storm

Basin
North Atlantic
Dates
September 24, 2003 to September 29, 2003
Peak strength
Category 2, 90 kt (104 mph)
Lowest pressure
969 mb (28.61 inHg)
Landfall
Yes
Accumulated cyclone energy
9.4
Tropical-storm-force wind reached
200 nmi (370 km, 230 mi) from the center at its widest
Eyewall radius at its peak
20 nmi (37 km, 23 mi)
Overall size
175 nmi (324 km, 201 mi) to the outermost closed isobar
Fastest the center moved
41 kt (47 mph)
Identifier
AL152003

Deaths and damage

No source this site reads carries a casualty or damage figure for this storm.

Landfall

Time (UTC)WherePositionWindPressure
Sep 29, 03:00Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, 32 km away44.4N 63.8W85 kt (98 mph)973 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 24, 12:0028.2N 62.4W25 kt1009 mbTropical depression
Sep 24, 18:0028.3N 62.2W30 kt1007 mbTropical depression
Sep 25, 00:0028.4N 62.0W35 kt1006 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 06:0028.8N 61.7W40 kt1002 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 12:0029.2N 61.4W45 kt1000 mbTropical storm
Sep 25, 18:0030.4N 61.6W50 kt996 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 00:0030.9N 61.8W55 kt992 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 06:0031.1N 61.8W60 kt990 mbTropical storm
Sep 26, 12:0031.8N 62.0W65 kt987 mbHurricane
Sep 26, 18:0032.5N 62.0W70 kt987 mbHurricane
Sep 27, 00:0033.3N 62.0W75 kt984 mbHurricane
Sep 27, 06:0034.4N 62.2W75 kt981 mbHurricane
Sep 27, 12:0035.2N 62.8W75 kt979 mbHurricane
Sep 27, 18:0035.5N 63.2W90 kt969 mbHurricane
Sep 28, 00:0036.3N 63.6W90 kt970 mbHurricane
Sep 28, 06:0037.1N 64.0W90 kt970 mbHurricane
Sep 28, 12:0038.5N 64.1W90 kt970 mbHurricane
Sep 28, 18:0040.2N 64.1W90 kt970 mbHurricane
Sep 29, 00:0042.8N 63.9W85 kt972 mbHurricane
Sep 29, 03:00 landfall44.4N 63.8W85 kt973 mbHurricane
Sep 29, 06:0046.0N 63.8W65 kt982 mbHurricane
Sep 29, 12:0049.8N 62.4W45 kt995 mbTropical storm

Other North Atlantic storms of 2003

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.