Hurricane in North Carolina, September 18 to 19, 2003

Name: Hurricane in North Carolina, September 18 to 19, 2003
Start: 2003-09-18T03:00
End: 2003-09-19T01:00
Location: North Carolina

September 18 to 19, 2003 · NWS AKQ · 7 events in 7 counties and zones

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it; 7 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

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 1
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $17 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 7

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 AKQ wrote it up.

Hurricane Isabel was a Category 1 hurricane as it crossed the Wakefield WFO county warning area. Sustained tropical storm force winds with frequent gusts to hurricane force occurred over coastal northeast North Carolina. Isabel made landfall near Ocracoke Inlet in North Carolina, tracked northwest into central Virginia just west of Richmond, then continued northward into western Pennsylvania. The highest sustained wind speed recorded was 73 mph at Duck (DUCN7). Other sustained wind speed was 59 mph at Elizabeth City (ECG). The highest gusts recorded were 97 mph at Elizabeth City (from Clemson University observation site in Elizabeth City), 92 mph at Duck (DUCN7), and 74 mph at Elizabeth City (ECG). Mandatory evacuations were ordered for parts of Currituck county, with approximately several thousand persons evacuated and housed in numerous shelters across coastal northeast North Carolina. The unusually large wind field uprooted many thousands of trees, downed many power lines, damaged hundreds of houses, and snapped thousands of telephone poles and cross arms. Hundreds of roads, including major highways, were blocked by fallen trees. Local power companies reported many thousands of customers were without power. Duck water levels peaked at 7.8 feet MLLW before data was lost. On the Albemarle Sound, storm surge values around 7 feet occurred at Edenton, with a surge around 5 feet observed on the Pasquotank River in Elizabeth City. The lowest sea level pressure recorded was 984 mb at Duck (DUCN7) and Duck (Army Coe Field Research Facility). Isabel will be remembered for the greatest wind and storm surge in the region since Hazel in 1954, and the 1933 Chesapeake-Potomac Hurricane. Also, Isabel will be remembered for the extensive power outages in northeast North Carolina, and permanent change to the landscape from all the fallen trees and storm surge. Rainfall amounts ranged from 2 to 5 inches across coastal northeast North Carolina. Inland flooding due to heavy rainfall occurred over parts of coastal northeast North Carolina. Significant beach erosion occurred across outer banks Currituck county. Eight deaths can be directly attributed to Isabel in the Wakefield area of responsibility, with 1 in North Carolina. There were more than 15 deaths indirectly attributed to the storm.

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 Wakefield, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 17, 8:05 PM EST, 6 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 17, 8:05 PM EST, 6 hours 55 minutes before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 17, 6:30 AM EST, 20 hours 30 minutes before

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The radar

The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

7 hurricane (typhoon). Local standard time, as filed.

Hurricane (Typhoon), Bertie

When: September 18, 3:00 AM EST to September 19, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Bertie forecast zone
Property damage: $2.5 million
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.066, -76.967 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hurricane (Typhoon), Camden

When: September 18, 3:00 AM EST to September 19, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Camden forecast zone
Property damage: $99,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.342, -76.161 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hurricane (Typhoon), Chowan

When: September 18, 3:00 AM EST to September 19, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Chowan forecast zone
Deaths: 1 direct, 0 indirect
Property damage: $7.6 million
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.127, -76.602 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hurricane (Typhoon), Eastern Currituck

When: September 18, 3:00 AM EST to September 19, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Eastern Currituck forecast zone
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.367, -75.937 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hurricane (Typhoon), Pasquotank

When: September 18, 3:00 AM EST to September 19, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Pasquotank forecast zone
Property damage: $4.5 million
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.265, -76.249 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hurricane (Typhoon), Perquimans

When: September 18, 3:00 AM EST to September 19, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Perquimans forecast zone
Property damage: $1.5 million
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.177, -76.408 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hurricane (Typhoon), Western Currituck

When: September 18, 3:00 AM EST to September 19, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Western Currituck forecast zone
Property damage: $700,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.367, -75.937 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

The people who died

As the offices recorded each death: direct deaths were caused by the weather itself, indirect ones by something it set in motion.

Event	Date	Age	Sex	Where	Kind
Hurricane (Typhoon), Chowan	2003-09-18	32	Female	Vehicle/Towed Trailer	Direct

What these are

Hurricane (Typhoon): A tropical cyclone with sustained winds of 64 knots (74 mph) or more, filed per forecast zone for its wind, and with separate events for its flooding, surge and tornadoes.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in North Carolina in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history Warnings in North Carolina, September 2003 The 2003 hurricane season

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 2026-09-30. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5370976, 5370977, 5370978, 5370979, 5370980, 5370981, 5370982.