Strong winds brought down power lines and knocked out electrical service to customers in Avon, Canton, and Simsbury. In all, about 6,000 customers were left without power.
Every event with a place to put it; 1 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS BOX wrote it up.
Strong winds brought down power lines and knocked out electrical service to customers in Avon, Canton, and Simsbury. In all, about 6,000 customers were left without power.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Boston/Norton, MA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 23, 8:25 PM EST, 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA 825 PM EST SUN FEB 23 2003 UPDATED ZFP TO REMOVE MNTN OF PCPN AND FRESHEN WORDING FOR TNGT. STG WNDS TAKING HOLD THRUT FA ATTM WITH ADVY CRIT ALREADY REACHED AT BDL/BAF/FIT/ORH/MQE/ACK...AND SHUD OCCUR IN NXT FEW HRS AT SVRL OTHER LOCS AS MXG LYR DEEPENS. IMPRESSIVE PRES RISES OVR ERN NY AND WRN NEW ENG ACCORDING TO LAPS WITH 8-9 MB RISES PAST 3HRS THIS WL SHIFT OVR FA BY MIDNGT AND ALLOW STGR WNDS TO AFFECT FA. UPDATED CWF ERLR TO UPSHIFT TO GALES IN BOS HARBOR AND NARR BAY. NOTED WNDS 45KT 44008 AND 41 KT 44018...WHILE UPSTREAM BUOYS INDCTG GUSTS 48KT ALSN6...47KT 44025 AND 43KT 44017. NARR BAY PORTS SHOWG PEAK WNDS 27-31KT ATTM. WL PRBLY RUN ANOTHER UPDATE LATER TO CLEAR SOME OF THE WIND ADVY AREAS AS WE XPCT WNDS TO DIMINISH (MNLY WRN ZNS) BEFORE MIDNGT. AM ALSO PLANNING TO HAVE SUMMARY OF PEAK WND REPORTS IN PNSBOX BY 930-10 PM. .BOX... CT...WIND ADVY TNGT ZNS 2>4. MA...WIND ADVY TNGT ZNS 2>024. NH...WIND ADVY TNGT ZNS 11-12 RI...WIND ADVY TNGT ZNS 1>7. MARINE....GALES ALL WTRS. JWD/AED
CTZ002>004-MAZ002>024-NHZ011-012-RIZ001>007-241115- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA 625 AM EST SUN FEB 23 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHWEST NEW HAMPSHIRE... MASSACHUSETTS EAST OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY...NORTHEAST CONNECTICUT AND RHODE ISLAND. .DAY ONE... ...TODAY... A FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHERN MASSACHUSETTS...SOUTH OF THE MASSACHUSETTS TURNPIKE EXCEPT FOR CAPE COD...NORTHERN CONNECTICUT AND RHODE ISLAND THROUGH 11 AM. A DENSE FOG ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR CENTRAL AND EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS...EXCEPT CAPE COD... AND RHODE ISLAND...ALSO THROUGH 11 AM. A WIND ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR WASHINGTON COUNTY RHODE ISLAND...INCLUDING BLOCK ISLAND...AS WELL AS CAPE COD AND THE ISLANDS FOR THIS AFTERNOON. LOW PRESSURE WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN NEW ENGLAND TODAY. AN AREA OF MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINFALL...WITH SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...WILL MOVE ACROSS THE REGION BY EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. IF THE RAIN FALLS HEAVILY ENOUGH...SOME AREAS IN THE FLOOD WATCH COULD SEE SOME FLOODING. SOME SMALL RIVERS AND STREAMS...ESPECIALLY THOSE THAT ARE BLOCKED WITH ICE...COULD ALSO GO OVER THEIR BANKS THIS MORNING. ONCE THE RAIN ENDS...WEST TO NORTHWEST WINDS WILL QUICKLY INCREASE LATER THIS AFTERNOON. WINDS WILL INCREASE TO OVER 30 MPH ON CAPE COD AND THE ISLANDS...AS WELL AS SOUTHERN WASHINGTON COUNTY...THIS AFTERNOON. ...TONIGHT... A HIGH WIND WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR WORCESTER...SUFFOLK...EASTERN NORFOLK COUNTIES IN MASSACHUSETTS...WASHINGTON COUNTY RHODE ISLAND...AND CAPE COD AND THE ISLANDS FOR TONIGHT. AS THE STRONG LOW MOVES AWAY INTO EASTERN CANADA...NORTHWEST WINDS WILL INCREASE FURTHER TONIGHT. IN THE WATCH AREA...WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE TO 30 TO 40 MPH WITH HIGHER GUSTS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... MONDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT... A WEAK LOW PRESSURE AREA WILL QUICKLY MOVE ACROSS THE REGION WITH A CHANCE OF SNOW SHOWERS. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. LATE THURSDAY INTO FRIDAY... A MIXED BAG OF WEATHER IS POSSIBLE LATE THURSDAY AND FRIDAY AS LOW PRESSURE MOVES SOUTH OF NEW ENGLAND. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS AND OTHER SKYWARN SPOTTERS SHOULD MONITOR TODAYS RAINFALL AND ANY POSSIBLE FLOODING...AND TONIGHTS WINDS. BE PREPARED TO RELAY REPORTS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. FOR WATCH/WARNING/ADVISORY THRESHOLDS, PLEASE REFER TO THE FOLLOWING LINK (ALL LOWER CASE): HTTP://WWW.ERH.NOAA.GOV/ER/BOX/WARNINGCRITERIA.SHTML . VALLIER-TALBOT
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
1 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Connecticut in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Connecticut, February 2003
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5340423.