Low pressure moving through the St. Lawrence valley brought high winds to much of southern New England.
Every event with a place to put it; 21 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.
Low pressure moving through the St. Lawrence valley brought high winds to much of southern New England. In Massachusetts, peak wind gusts of 50 to 60 mph brought down trees and power lines over much of the state, and disrupted electric service to about 12,000 customers. The hardest hit area was in Western Massachusetts, where power was not restored for two days.
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 Nov 13, 1:55 PM EST, 5 hours 5 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA 146 PM EST THU NOV 13 2003...COR TO ADD LONGER MARINE SECTION .SHORT TERM (TONIGHT THRU FRIDAY AFTERNOON)... WINDS HAVE BEEN HOWLING OVER MUCH OF NEW YORK STATE AND PENNSYLVANIA THIS AFTERNOON WITH POWER OUTAGES AND TREES DOWN. NUMEROUS LOCATIONS IN THIS REGION REPORTING WIND GUSTS OVER 50 MPH. STRONGEST WINDS JUST OFF THE DECK ARE IN THIS REGION CURRENTLY. ACROSS OUR REGION WINDS HAVE GENERALLY BEEN IN THE 25 TO 40 MPH WITH GUSTS TO 50 MPH IN OUR FAR SOUTHWEST ZONES. HOWEVER...A SECONDARY COLD FRONT WILL BE MOVING THROUGH THIS EVENING. 850 MB WINDS ARE SHOWN TO INCREASE FROM AROUND 45 KT NOW...TO NEAR 65 KT AFTER 03Z. AS THE FLOW TURNS WEST NORTHWEST...EXPECT A DECENT AMOUNT OF THIS TO BE ABLE TO MIX DOWN. STILL COULD SEE WIND GUSTS OVER 50 MPH... WITH SECONDARY SURGE. ALSO...WOULD EXPECT TO SEE REPORTS OF TREE LIMBS DOWN AND POWER OUTAGES. THEREFORE...WILL CONTINUE THE HIGH WIND WARNING THROUGH TONIGHT. SECONDARY CONCERNS WILL REVOLVE AROUND PRECIPITATION CHANCES TONIGHT. RAPIDLY RISING THETA SURFACES WILL OFFSET DOWNGLIDE SHOWN ISENTROPICALLY. THEREFORE... A BAND OF SNOW SHOWERS TO MOVE INTO PORTIONS OF WESTERN MASSACHUSETTS...AS WELL AS PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE WITH THE SECONDARY SURGE. THIS ACTIVITY SHOULD NOT LAST LONG ALTHOUGH IT COULD ARRIVE IN A BRIEF BURST. COULD SEE A COATING TO ONE HALF INCH OF SNOW ON THE HIGH TERRAIN. OTHERWISE...ACROSS THE CONNECTICUT VALLEY AND THE REST OF THE REGION SHOULD JUST EXPECT A FEW SPRINKLES OR SNOW FLURRIES WITH THE SURGE. LOW TEMPERATURES SHOULD GENERALLY FALL INTO THE MID 20S OVER THE FAR NORTHWEST...TO THE LOWER 30S IN THE EASTERN ZONES BASED ON CURRENT READINGS IN SOUTHEAST CANADA. STRONG WEST TO NORTHWEST FLOW ALOFT WILL ALLOW FOR THE CONTINUATION OF STRONG WINDS ON FRIDAY. IN FACT...WINDS AT 3000 FEET ARE STRONG TOMORROW THAN THIS AFTERNOON...AND EXPECT MUCH OF THIS TO MIX DOWN. THEREFORE...LATER SHIFT WILL LIKELY NEED TO GO WITH A WIND ADVISORY OR AN EXTENSION TO THE HIGH WIND WARNING. DESPITE VERY COLD TEMPERATURES ALOFT...STRONG DOWNSLOPE WILL ALLOW THE MERCURY TO CLIMB INTO THE MID 30S...TO THE LOWER 40S. FWC TEMPERATURES IN THE UPPER 40S SEEM WAY WITH FAIR WEATHER CUMULUS DESPITE DOWNSLOPE. && .MARINE... WILL CONTINUE WITH STORM WARNINGS TONIGHT FOR ALL OF THE OUTER-WATERS AS WELL AS THE SOUNDS. VERY COLD AIR ALOFT MOVING OVER THE WARM WATERS WILL ALLOW FOR INCREDIBLE MIXING SO WE SHOULD BE CLOSE TO THE 48 KT WIND GUST THRESHOLD. HOWEVER...WILL BE DOWNGRADING TO GALE WARNINGS OVER BOSTON HARBOR...CAPE COD BAY...AND NARR BAY. IT WOULD BE EXTREMELY TOUGH TO GET 48 KT GUSTS FOR 3 HOURS IN THESE LOCATIONS. IN THE LONGER TERM...STRONG PRESSURE GRADIENT AND STEEP LOW LEVEL LAPSE RATES WILL LIKELY CONTINUE GALES THROUGH FRI NIGHT AND POSSIBLY INTO SAT MORNING. GRADIENT AND COLD AIR ADVECTION EASES LATER SAT...WITH WIND AND SEAS DIMINISHING BELOW SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CRITERIA. LIGHT WIND AND SEAS SUN AND MON...THEN BACK ON THE UP SWING LATER TUE WITH NEXT SYSTEM APPROACHING. GIVEN MODEL CONTINUITY ON TROF AMPLIFICATION...COULD SEE SOUTH-SOUTHEAST GALE DEVELOP LATE TUE. && .AVIATION... STRONG WEST WINDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH FRIDAY AFTERNOON. SCATTERED TO BROKEN CEILINGS BETWEEN 3500 AND 6000 FEET WILL MOVE INTO THE REGION LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND PERSIST THROUGH THE NIGHT. ALSO COULD BE A BRIEF HEAVY SNOW SHOWER OVER PORTIONS OF WESTERN MA WHICH COULD REDUCE VISIBILITY TO UNDER 1 MILE FOR A VERY SHORT TIME. OTHERWISE...NO RESTRICTIONS ON VISIBILITIES EXPECTED. && .MEDIUM RANGE (FRI NIGHT THROUGH SUN NIGHT)... 12Z ETA...GFS AND CANADIAN ARE NOW INDICATING A SLOWER DEPARTURE OF THE INTENSE MARITIME LOW. THUS...BLUSTERY/WINDY CONDITIONS WILL PERSIST INTO FRI NIGHT AND POSSIBLY LINGER INTO SAT. NOTICEABLE HEIGHT RISES AND SURFACE RIDGING TAKE PLACE SAT NIGHT INTO SUN. COULD POSSIBLY MAKE A RUN AT 50 SUN WITH TEMPS WARMING ALOFT AND STILL SOME MIXING WITH LIGHT NORTHWEST SURFACE FLOW. MID AND HIGH CLOUDS INCREASE LATER IN THE DAY SUN FROM WEST TO EAST...AS LOW AMPLITUDE UPPER TROF MOVES FROM THE GREAT LAKES EAST INTO NEW ENGLAND. NOT EXPECTING ANY PRECIP WITH THIS FEATURE AS PLENTY OF LOW TO MID LEVEL RIDGING AND ASSOCIATED DRY AIR IN PLACE ACROSS THE REGION. .LONG RANGE (MON THROUGH THU)... AFTER QUIET WEATHER THIS WEEKEND...06Z GFS...00Z CANADIAN... OPERATIONAL 00Z GFS AND 00Z MEDIUM RANGE ENSEMBLES ALL CONTINUE TO FORECAST A FAIRLY LARGE AMPLITUDE TROF ENTERING THE PLAINS EARLY NEXT WEEK. 00Z CANADIAN AND 00Z OPERATIONAL GFS ARE A BIT MORE AMPLIFIED THAN THE 00Z ENSEMBLES. NEVERTHELESS...ALL MODELS ARE IN AGREEMENT THAT THIS TROF BECOMES NEGATIVELY TILTED AND IN THE PROCESS TAPS GULF AND ATLANTIC MOISTURE...LEADING TO A MAJOR RAIN EVENT HERE IN THE NORTHEAST TUE AND WED. THUS...WILL INCREASE POPS TO HIGH CHANCE (40-50%) FOR THIS PERIOD. IN ADDITION...BASED ON SMALL SPREAD AMONG ENSEMBLES...WILL LEAN TOWARD HEAVY QPF FROM 00Z OPERATIONAL GFS. THEREAFTER...ENSEMBLES IN GOOD AGREEMENT ON LIFTING TROF OUT OF THE NORTHEAST THU. && .BOX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... CT...HIGH WIND WARNING TODAY AND TONIGHT ZONES 2>4. MA...HIGH WIND WARNING TODAY AND TONIGHT ZONES 2>4-8>13-15>24. NH...HIGH WIND WARNING TODAY AND TONIGHT ZONES 11, 12, 15 RI...HIGH WIND WATCH THU AND THU NIGHT ZONES 1>8. MARINE...STORM WARNINGS OUTER WATERS AND SOUNDS, GALE WARNINGS HARBOR AND BAYS BOX FORECAST TEAM SHORT TERM...FRANK LONG TERM...NOCERA
CTZ002>004-MAZ002>024-026-NHZ011-012-015-RIZ001>008-141030- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA 441 PM EST THU NOV 13 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHWEST NEW HAMPSHIRE... MASSACHUSETTS EAST OF BERKSHIRE COUNTY...NORTHEAST CONNECTICUT AND RHODE ISLAND. .DAY ONE... A HIGH WIND WARNING IS IN EFFECT THROUGH 6 AM FRIDAY FOR ALL OF OUR FORECAST AREA. REFER TO THE STATEMENT UNDER THE WMO HEADER WWUS71 NPWBOX. SUSTAINED WINDS OF 30 TO 40 MPH WILL OCCUR TONIGHT. WIND GUSTS IN THE 50 TO 60 MPH RANGE ARE EXPECTED AFTER MIDNIGHT AND INTO THE PREDAWN HOURS OF FRIDAY...ESPECIALLY IN THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS...AND ALONG THE MASSACHUSETTS AND RHODE ISLAND COAST. THESE WINDS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BRING DOWN TREES...BRANCHES AND POWER LINES AND CAUSE NUMEROUS POWER OUTAGES. STORM WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF THE COASTAL WATERS. GALE WARNINGS ARE POSTED FOR BOSTON HARBOR...CAPE COD AND NARRAGANSETT BAYS. SEAS OF 15 TO 20 FEET ARE FORECAST FOR THE WATERS JUST OFF THE SOUTH COAST...OUT TO 25 NAUTICAL MILES. THIS WILL BE DANGEROUS SEA CONDITIONS FOR MARINERS IN SMALLER VESSELS OR FOR THOSE WITH LESS EXPERIENCE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... STRONG AND POSSIBLY DAMAGING WINDS ARE STILL POSSIBLE FRIDAY AFTERNOON...WE WILL NEED TO WAIT AND SEE IF THE WARNING WILL NEED TO BE EXTENDED...OR IF A WIND ADVISORY WILL BE ISSUED FOR FRIDAY. OTHERWISE...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED SATURDAY THROUGH MONDAY. ALTHOUGH...BY MID WEEK A MAJOR RAIN AND WIND EVENT IS POSSIBLE...AS LOW PRESSURE STRENGTHENS ACROSS THE GREAT LAKES AND THEN INTO NEW YORK STATE. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SKYWARN ACTIVATION IS REQUESTED FOR THE WIND EVENT THROUGH TONIGHT... AND POSSIBLY INTO FRIDAY. AMATEUR RADIO OPERATORS AND OTHER SKYWARN SPOTTERS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO RELAY REPORTS TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OF WIND DAMAGE...INCLUDING TREES OR WIRES DOWNED...LARGE LIMBS DOWNED...ROOF OR WINDOW DAMAGE...ETC. ALSO...REPORT ANY SUSTAINED WINDS IN EXCESS OF 40 MPH OR WIND GUSTS OF 58 MPH OR MORE. NOCERA/HF
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
21 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Massachusetts in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Massachusetts, November 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: 5336150, 5336151, 5336152, 5336153, 5336154, 5336155, 5336156, 5336157, 5336158, 5336159, 5336160, 5336161, 5336447, 5336448, 5336449, 5336450, 5336451, 5336452, 5336453, 5336454, 5336455.