Name: Hurricane in North Carolina, September 18 to 19, 2003
Start: 2003-09-18T06:00
End: 2003-09-19T01:00
Location: North Carolina

Where it happened

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.

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: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $3.9 million
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 3

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 gusts to hurricane force occurred over the piedmont of 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 37 mph at Roanoke Rapids (RZZ). The highest gust recorded was 63 mph at Roanoke Rapids (RZZ). Approximately several thousand persons were evacuated and housed in numerous shelters across the piedmont of 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. 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 the piedmont of northeast North Carolina. Inland flooding due to heavy rainfall occurred over parts of the piedmont of northeast North Carolina. 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 18, 4:00 AM EST, 2 hours earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 18, 4:00 AM EST, 2 hours before

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Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 18, 4:35 AM EST, 1 hour 25 minutes before

MDZ021>025-NCZ012>017-030>032-102-VAZ048-049-060>100-181600-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
535 AM EDT THU SEP 18 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND EASTERN VIRGINIA...
NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA AND THE LOWER MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE.

.DAY ONE...TODAY

HURRICANE ISABEL WILL AFFECT THE ENTIRE AREA THROUGH TONIGHT.  COASTAL
AREAS WILL SEE A SIGNIFICANT STORM SURGE.  ALL AREAS ARE UNDER THE
THREAT OF ISOLATED TORNADOES.  HEAVY RAIN WILL CAUSE POSSIBLE INLAND
FLOODING.  AN EXTREMELY LARGE WIND FIELD WILL CAUSE MANY TREES TO BE
DOWNED.  SEE HLSAKQ (WTUS81)...AND FFAAKQ (WGUS61) FOR MORE
INFORMATION.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.

TG

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): WEATHER.NOAA.GOV/AKQ.

The radar

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

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

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

Hurricane (Typhoon), Gates

When: September 18, 6:00 AM EST to September 19, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Gates forecast zone
Property damage: $900,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.445, -76.700 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hurricane (Typhoon), Hertford

When: September 18, 6:00 AM EST to September 19, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Hertford forecast zone
Property damage: $1.4 million
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.359, -76.981 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

Hurricane (Typhoon), Northampton

When: September 18, 6:00 AM EST to September 19, 1:00 AM EST
Where: Northampton forecast zone
Property damage: $1.6 million
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 36.418, -77.397 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)

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

More

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 2026-10-01. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5370983, 5370984, 5370985.