High winds during the evening of the 23rd and morning of the 24th downed trees and power lines across Ashe, Alleghany, and Watauga counties. The AWOS at Boone in Watauga County measured a wind gust of 63 miles an hour.
Every event with a place to put it; 3 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 RNK wrote it up.
High winds during the evening of the 23rd and morning of the 24th downed trees and power lines across Ashe, Alleghany, and Watauga counties. The AWOS at Boone in Watauga County measured a wind gust of 63 miles an hour.
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 Jan 23, 2:59 PM EST, 4 hours 1 minute earlier.
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</html>NCZ001>006-018>020-VAZ007-009>020-022>024-032>035-043>047-058-059- WVZ042>045-241100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 329 PM EST THU JAN 23 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA... WESTERN AND CENTRAL VIRGINIA...AS WELL AS NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY NORTHWEST WINDS ARE EXPECTED TO INCREASE TO BETWEEN 20 TO 40 MPH OVERNIGHT...WITH GUSTS TO 60 MPH POSSIBLE ACROSS THE HIGHER ELEVATIONS OF THE BLUE RIDGE. BITTERLY COLD WIND CHILLS ARE ALSO ANTICIPATED THROUGH TONIGHT. WIND CHILL WARNINGS ARE IN EFFECT FOR AREAS WEST OF THE BLUE RIDGE WITH WIND CHILL ADVISORIES EAST OF THE BLUE RIDGE. BLOWING AND DRIFTING OF SNOW WILL ALSO OCCUR AS THE WINDS INCREASE OVERNIGHT. PLEASE REFER TO THE WBCNPWRNK PRODUCTS ISSUED BY THIS OFFICE EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 high 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, January 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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5339253, 5339254, 5339255.