High Wind, Watauga
- When
- February 3, 9:30 AM EST
- Where
- Watauga forecast zone
- Measured
- 60 kt (69 mph) estimated sustained
- Reported by
- LAW ENFORCEMENT
- Coordinates
- 36.231, -81.696 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
High Wind in North Carolina, February 3, 2003
Early during the morning of the 3rd, high winds downed trees and power lines across Watauga County.
Where it happened
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.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 1
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.
What happened
The episode as NWS RNK wrote it up.
Early during the morning of the 3rd, high winds downed trees and power lines across Watauga County.
What forecasters said that day
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 Blacksburg, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 3, 3:50 AM EST, 5 hours 40 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 3, 3:50 AM EST, 5 hours 40 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG, VA 350 AM EST MON FEB 3 2003 NEAR RECORD HIGH TDY AT BLF. TEMPS ALREADY JUMPING WITH SW FLOW PICKING UP AT HIGHER ELEVATIONS IN THE SW. CLOUDS INCREASE DURING THE AFTN WITH NO CHANGES IN THE TIMING OF THE STG FNT. ONLY MINOR CHNAGES TO THE TEMP TREND FOR TUES. HAVE INCREASED POPS AND ADDED A SLGT CHC OF T BASED ON FCST INSTABILITY... SURROUNDING OFFICES AND SPC OUTLOOK. EXPECT FNTL PCPN TO BE WELL INTO ERN VA/NC BY 18Z TUES SO HAVE CLEARED CLOUDS OUT OF PIEDMONT COUNTIES FASTER. MODELS STILL SHOWING EXCEPTIONAL PRES RISES BEHIND FNT SO WL CONT TO HIGHLIGHT WINDS TUES. EXPECT WINDS TO STAY UP UNTIL WED AFTN. BY 12Z THUR SFC HIGH IS CENTERED OVR RGN...SO LOWERED WINDS IN THE GRIDS WED NGT AND THUR MORN. GFS CONT TO BE FURTHEST S WITH SYS COMING THRU THE SRN STREAM ON FRI. CHANGED PCPN TYPE IN THE NE CWA AS THICKNESSES STRONGLY SUPPORT ONLY S. LOWERED CLOUD COVER SAT AND SUN IN THE NRN CWA...OTHERWISE NO CHANGES DAY 6 AND 7. .RNK... NC...NONE. VA...NONE. WV...NONE. AMS
Hazardous weather outlook, Feb 3, 5:37 AM EST, 3 hours 53 minutes before
NCZ001>006-018>020-VAZ007-009>020-022>024-032>035-043>047-058-059- WVZ042>045-041030- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 537 AM EST MON FEB 3 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA... WESTERN AND CENTRAL VIRGINIA...AS WELL AS NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... STRONG WINDS ARE EXPECTED TUESDAY AND TUESDAY NIGHT BEHIND A COLD FRONT. WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. AMS
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
1 high wind. Local standard time, as filed.
What these are
- High Wind
- Sustained non-thunderstorm winds of 40 mph or more for an hour, or gusts of 58 mph or more.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Strong Wind in Tennessee, February 3 to 4, 2003
- Winter Weather in Wisconsin, February 3, 2003
- Winter Storm and Heavy Snow in Michigan, February 3 to 4, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Michigan, February 3 to 4, 2003
- Damaging Wind in Missouri, February 3, 2003
- Blizzard and Heavy Snow in Alaska, February 3 to 6, 2003
- Winter Storm in Kansas, February 3, 2003
- Frost and Freeze in California, February 3 to 10, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Wisconsin, February 3 to 4, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Montana, February 3 to 4, 2003
- High Wind in Alaska, February 3 to 5, 2003
- Heavy Snow in Wisconsin, February 3, 2003
More
Every storm in North Carolina in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in North Carolina, February 2003
Sources
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: 5343964.