A spring nor'easter produced wind gusts between 40 and 47 knots (46 and 54 mph) across much of coastal northeast North Carolina, from early Thursday morning into Thursday night. These strong winds downed some trees and utility poles, resulting in power outages.
Every event with a place to put it; 6 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 AKQ wrote it up.
A spring nor'easter produced wind gusts between 40 and 47 knots (46 and 54 mph) across much of coastal northeast North Carolina, from early Thursday morning into Thursday night. These strong winds downed some trees and utility poles, resulting in power outages. The winds also produced minor structural damage.
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 Wakefield, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Apr 10, 3:47 AM EST, 13 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA 500 AM EST Thu Apr 10 2003 OVERVIEW: SHORT TERM: EXTENDED: MARINE: FCSTID = 32 SBY 44 42 51 41 / 80 80 50 50 OXB 44 42 47 41 / 80 80 50 50 ECG 50 48 54 45 / 80 80 70 40 ORF 49 47 52 45 / 80 80 70 40 PHF 49 45 52 44 / 80 80 50 40 AKQ 48 44 52 42 / 80 80 50 40 RIC 45 43 50 42 / 80 80 50 30 FVX 44 41 49 40 / 80 80 50 30 .AKQ... .MD...NONE. .NC...NONE. .VA...NONE.
MDZ021>025-NCZ012>017-030>032-102-VAZ048-049-060>100-091600- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA 530 AM EDT WED APR 09 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND EASTERN VIRGINIA... NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA AND THE LOWER MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE. .DAY ONE...TODAY HEAVY SURF ADVISORY IN EFFECT TODAY FROM FENWICK ISLAND DE TO CURRITUCK BEACH LIGHT. REFER TO SPSAKQ (WWUS81 KAKQ) FOR FURTHER DETAILS. PROLONGED EASTERLY AND NORTHEASTERLY SWELLS PRODUCED BY STRONG ONSHORE FLOW CAUSING HEAVY SURF TODAY ALONG THE MD VIRGINA AND NORTH CAROLINA COAST. HEAVY RAINFALL TONIGHT...COULD CAUSE LOCALIZED FLOODING. REFER TO FFAAKQ (WGUS61 KAKQ) FOR DETAILS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... HEAVY RAINFALL THROUGH FRIDAY MAY CAUSE LOCALIZED FLOODING. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. 22 THIS PRODUCT...ALONG WITH OTHER WATCHES...WARNINGS...ADVISORIES...AND STATEMENTS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN WAKEFIELD, VA CAN BE FOUND ON THE INTERNET AT THE FOLLOWING (LOWER CASE): HTTP://WWW.ERH.NOAA.GOV/AKQ.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
6 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in North Carolina in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, April 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: 5353239, 5353240, 5353241, 5353242, 5353243, 5353244.