1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 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 Newport/Morehead City, NC wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 14, 8:20 AM EST, 2 hours 41 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC 920 AM EDT THU AUG 14 2003 UPR RDG TO W WILL TEND TO SUPPRESS CONVECTION THIS AFTN. 12Z MHX SOUNDING IS A LITTLE DRIER ALOFT BUT STILL ENUF MOISTURE/INSTAB TO CONT SMALL POP. CRNT FCST LOOKS GOOD WITH HIGHS IN THE UPPER 80S TO AROUND 90 MOST SPOTS...NO UPDT PLANNED. MARINE: HARDLY ANY GRDNT OVER REGION WITH WINDS EXPECTED TO STAY AOB 10 KTS. HAVE A BIT OF A SE SWELL...ESPCLY SRN WTRS. FPSN7 NOW SOLID 4 FEET...AND 41004 OFF SC 5 FEET. WILL GO 3 TO 4 FEET FOR WTRS S OF HAT AND KEEP NRN WTRS 2 TO 3 FEET. WITH SE SWELL INCRS TO 3 FEET EVERY 8 TO 9 SEC WILL CONT MOD RIP THREAT S OF HAT. .MHX...NONE. RF
NCZ029-044>047-079>081-090>095-098-103-104-141100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NEWPORT/MOREHEAD CITY NC 328 AM EDT THU AUG 14 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY ONLY ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED MAINLY DURING THE AFTERNOON. DUE TO WEAK STEERING WINDS AND HIGH PRECIPITABLE WATER VALUES...ANY STORMS THAT DO FORM COULD CAUSE LOCALIZED FLOODING...ESPECIALLY IN GREENE AND PITT COUNTIES. A MODERATE RIP CURRENT WILL CONTINUE SOUTH OF CAPE HATTERAS TO NORTH OF SURF CITY. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED SATURDAY INTO MONDAY. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. 12
The Morehead City radar (KMHX), 44 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 16:03 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Public reported waterspout moved onshore near Open Grounds Farm then dissipated.
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 historyThe tornado archive for North Carolina, 2003Warnings in North Carolina, August 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: 5334708.