A low pressure area deepened as it tracked east across the Great Lakes region into the the Saint Lawrence Valley on November 13. A steep pressure gradient, between this storm and high pressure building across the Ohio Valley, brought the second high wind event of the fall season to the Berkshires.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 ALY wrote it up.
A low pressure area deepened as it tracked east across the Great Lakes region into the the Saint Lawrence Valley on November 13. A steep pressure gradient, between this storm and high pressure building across the Ohio Valley, brought the second high wind event of the fall season to the Berkshires. Trees were reported down in the towns of Lanesborough and Otis during the evening of November 13. At nearly the same time, a wind gust was clocked to 63 mph at the Pittsfield Regional Airport.
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 Albany, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 13, 7:35 PM EST, 1 hour 47 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY 735 PM EST THU NOV 13 2003 .DISC...WILL DOWNGRADE THE HIGH WIND WARNING TO A WIND ADVISORY FOR ALL ZONES THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT...AS WINDS HAVE DROPPED BELOW WARNING CRITERIA...BUT WILL REMAIN STRONG AND GUSTY OVER NIGHT. HAVE MADE A FEW MINOR ADJUSTMENTS TO LOW TEMPS OVERNIGHT. .ALY...WIND ADVISORY THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT FOR THE ENTIRE AREA. ******************* PREV DISCUSSION FOLLOWS ******************** WILL CONTINUE WITH HIGH WIND WARNING TONIGHT FOR THE ENTIRE AREA. RECEIVED REPORTS FROM VARIOUS PLACES RECEIVING WIND READINGS IN EXCESS OF 50 MPH. REPORTS OF ROOF DAMAGE IN COHOES...TREES DOWN ACROSS AMSTERDAM AND AMSTERDAM WITH WIRES DOWN. SEE LSRALY FOR FURTHER DETAILS. LATEST RADAR PIC SHOWING PRECIP ACROSS THE MOHAWK VALLEY AND THE ADIRONDACKS. GFS STILL SHOWING GOOD VORT MAX BAND THAT WILL HELP ENHANCE THE SNOW THIS EVENING. BEST AREA FOR SNOW WILL BE ACROSS THE ADIRONDACKS AND THE MOHAWK VALLEY. WILL GO WITH CATEGORICAL POPS ACROSS THE ADIRONDACKS...MOHAWK VALLEY AND THE SCHOHARIE VALLEY. LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTH AND EAST THE NEXT 24 HOURS. GRADIENT WILL STAY PACKED TONIGHT AND WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO BE STRONG THROUGH THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. FRIDAY...WILL STILL BE WINDY BUT NOT AS WINDY AS TODAY AS THE GRAD WILL CONTINUE WITH SNOW ACROSS THE ADIRONDACKS AND THE MOHAWK VALLEY AND CHANCE ELSEWHERE. WILL PULL PRECIP OUT OF GRIDS FOR WEEKEND AS WE ARE BETWEEN SYSTEMS. NEXT CHANCE OF PRECIP WILL BE ON TUESDAY NIGHT WITH THE NEXT SYSTEM. .AVIATION DISCUSSION...STRONG WIND THREAT WILL CONTINUE WITH GUSTS REACHING 50 KTS IN PLACES. HIGH WIND WARNING CONTINUES. STRONGEST WINDS LIKELY 21Z-03Z. FLOW WILL SHIFT FROM WEST TO SOUTHWEST TO WEST TO NORTHWEST. GENERALLY VFR CONDITIONS HUDSON VALLEY EAST AT MIDDAY. PRECIPITATION MORE WIDESPREAD TO THE WEST WITH MVFR/IFR CONDITIONS. AS FLOW TURNS MORE WEST NORTHWEST AND SECONDARY TROUGH MOVES THROUGH.... MVFR TO LOCALLY IFR CONDITIONS WILL BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING. .HYDROLOGICAL DISCUSSION...NO HYDRO PROBLEMS ANTICIPATED THE NEXT 24 HOURS AS PRECIP WILL BE MINIMAL AND OF FROZEN TYPE. .ALY...HIGH WIND WIND WARNING TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR THE ENTIRE AREA.
CTZ001-013-MAZ001-025-NYZ032-033-038>043-047>054-058>061-063>066-082> 084-VTZ013>015-140000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE ALBANY NY 410 AM EST THU NOV 13 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN NEW YORK AND ADJACENT WESTERN NEW ENGLAND. .DAY ONE...A WIND WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE ENTIRE COUNTY WARNING AREA TODAY AND TONIGHT. WEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO REACH OVER 40 MPH ACROSS THE AREA AS THE DAY WEARS ON...WITH GUSTS OVER 60 MPH POSSIBLE JUST ABOUT ANYTIME TODAY AND TONIGHT. IN ADDITION...LOCALIZED SNOW SQUALLS THIS AFTERNOON....COMBINED WITH THE HIGH WIND...COULD PRODUCE BRIEF WHITEOUT CONDITIONS AND SLIPPERY ROADS. .DAYS TWO THOUGH SEVEN...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...SKYWARN SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS REQUESTED TODAY AND TONIGHT FOR THE ENTIRE COUNTY WARNING AREA. PLEASE REPORT THE FOLLOWING TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AT ALBANY...ANY DAMAGING WIND GUSTS...MEASURED WIND MEETING HIGH WIND CRITERIA (SUSTAINED 41 MPH OR HIGHER...OR GUSTS HIGHER THAN 58 MPH)...OR ANY SNOWFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 4 INCHES OR GREATER.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
2 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: 5336650, 5336651.