A strong cold front moved across northwestern Pennsylvania early in the day. Gusty westerly winds occurred behind this front and downed trees and power lines throughout Erie and Crawford Counties during the middle part of the day.
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 CLE wrote it up.
A strong cold front moved across northwestern Pennsylvania early in the day. Gusty westerly winds occurred behind this front and downed trees and power lines throughout Erie and Crawford Counties during the middle part of the day. A peak measured gust of 53 mph was recorded at Erie International Airport at 10:22 a.m. with a 46 mph gust at Meadville. A car was destroyed just south of Erie when a large pole fell on it. A second pole was toppled northeast of Erie and at least one home and one car were damaged by fallen trees in Erie.
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 Cleveland, OH wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Feb 4, 5:14 AM EST, 4 hours 16 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 514 AM EST TUE FEB 4 2003 LO PRES ABOUT ON TRACK BUT SINCE IT IS MOVG CLOSER TO OH AND WITH STG WNDS AT H8 EVEN DURG MID AND LATE AFTN AND WITH A WLY FETCH WENT WITH A HIGH WND WARNG FOR AREAS OF EAST OF CLE BECAUSE OF GOOD FETCH OVR FROZEN LAKE...COORD WITH BUF. THIS IS ALSO BASED ON H8 WINDS ALL MDLS WITH 50 KTS. ELSW BASED ON RUC WITH 925 MB WINDS ARND 40 KTS AND WITH AN IMPRESSIVE GRAD WIND ADVSRY SEEMS GOOD. TEMPS FALLG INTO THE 20S. SOME LIGHT PCPN BFR THE SNOW SHWRS DVLP. IT SHOULD BE MNLY LIQUID BFR SWITCHG TO SNOW. SOME NVA AT 18Z BUT THEN A VORT FOR LATER. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS SHOULD REMAIN UNDER CONTROL WITH A FROZEN LAKE. PLENTY OF LOW LVL MSTR THRU THIS EVE. HI PRES RDG TRIES TO BLD IN FOR WED. THANKS TO ALL OFFICES FOR COORDINATING...DTX...IWX...ILN...PBZ...CTP AND BUF. .CLE... OH...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR TODAY FOR ZONES OHZ012>014...OHZ089. WIND ADVISORY FOR TODAY FOR ZONES OHZ010>011...OHZ020>023... OHZ031>033. WIND ADVISORY FOR TODAY FOR ZONES OHZ003...OHZ006>009...OHZ018>019. GALE WARNING LAKE ERIE WEST HALF. STORM WARNING LAKE ERIE EAST HALF. PA...HIGH WIND WARNING FOR TODAY FOR ZONES PAZ001>003. STORM WARNING EAST HALF. KIELTYKA
OHZ003-006>014-017>023-027>033-036>038-047-089-PAZ001>003-041345- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 650 AM EST TUE FEB 4 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MUCH OF NORTHERN OHIO AND A PORTION OF NORTHWESTERN PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY HIGH WIND WARNING FOR EXTREME NORTHEAST OHIO TODAY WITH A WIND ADVISORY FOR MUCH OF THE REST OF NORTHERN OHIO. A FEW TREES AND POWER LINES COULD BE KNOCKED DOWN. A STORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR THE EAST END OF LAKE ERIE INTO TONIGHT WITH A GALE WARNING FOR THE WEST END OF THE LAKE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY OR TONIGHT. KIELTYKA
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
3 strong wind. Local standard time, as filed.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Pennsylvania in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, February 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: 5342326, 5342327, 5342328.