A strong arctic cold front moved across northwestern Pennsylvania during the late evening hours of the 12th. Gusty westerly winds behind the front caused considerable damage through the morning hours of the 13th.
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 arctic cold front moved across northwestern Pennsylvania during the late evening hours of the 12th. Gusty westerly winds behind the front caused considerable damage through the morning hours of the 13th. A 72 mph wind gust was measured at the Presque Isle Lighthouse around 8 a.m. with a 71 mph gust measured by a coastal observing system in North East just after midnight. A peak gust of 63 mph was measured at Erie International Airport at 9:48 a.m. A peak gust of 60 mph was measured in inland Erie County with gusts near 60 mph estimated in Crawford County. The strong winds downed hundreds of trees in Erie and Crawford Counties with widespread power outages reported as well. Several homes and vehicles were damaged by fallen trees. Most of this damage occurred in locations near Lake Erie where the winds were the strongest. A business in the city of Erie lost it's roof around 10 a.m. Docks at Presque Isle were damaged by the 12 to 16 foot waves caused by the strong winds.
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 Nov 12, 9:05 PM EST, 1 hour 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
905 PM EST WED NOV 12 2003
DUE TO SVR WX HAVENT HAD ANY TIME TO SPEND ON WX ANALYSIS SO WL
UPDATE AGAIN TO REMOVE REST OF TOR AND SVR WATCHES. NO CHGS TO FCST
HEADLINES. ADJUSTED WORDING TO TRY AND BEST ACCOUNT FOR TRANSITION
OF PRECIP TYPE LATE TNGT AND FOR WRAP CLDS AND PRECIP SPREADING BACK
IN.
.CLE...
OH...HIGH WIND WARNING OVERNIGHT AND THURSDAY FOR LAKE SHORE AND
JUST INLAND.
...WIND ADVISORY OVERNIGHT AND THURSDAY FOR REMAIDER OF NORTHERN
THIRD OF OHIO.
PA...HIGH WIND WARNING OVERNIGHT AND THURSDAY.
ADAMSOHZ003-006>014-017>023-027>033-036>038-047-089-PAZ001>003-121230- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 535 AM EST WED NOV 12 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR MUCH OF NORTHERN OHIO AND A PORTION OF NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY. THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER SAYS NORTHERN OHIO AND NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA IS IN A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL AND MAY BE EVEN SOME TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE. THIS WEATHER WILL BE AHEAD OF A STRONG COLD FRONT THAT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. IF WE GET SOME SUNSHINE TODAY THAT WILL INCREASE THE CHANCES OF SEVERE WEATHER AS THE AIRMASS WILL BE MORE UNSTABLE. BEHIND THE COLD FRONT IT WILL BECOME WINDY. A HIGH WIND WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR LATE TONIGHT AND THURSDAY FOR THE LAKESHORE COUNTIES FROM LORAIN COUNTY EAST AS THE COLD AIR POURS INTO THE REGION. WIND GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH ARE POSSIBLE IN THE WATCH AREA AND APPROACHING 45 MPH ELSEWHERE. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... THURSDAY WILL BE WINDY WITH THE STRONGEST WINDS OVER PARTS OF NORTHEAST OHIO AND A HIGH WIND WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THAT AREA. SOME LAKE EFFECT SNOW SHOWERS WILL ALSO OCCUR WITH SOME ACCUMULATING SNOW ESPECIALLY IN THE SNOW BELT COUNTIES. SINCE THE GROUND IS WARM MUCH OF THE SNOW ACCUMULATION WILL BE ON GRASSY AREAS AND ON VEHICLES AND DECKS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS LIKELY AFTER 1 PM. KIELTYKA
OHZ009>014-019>023-029>033-037-038-047-089-PAZ001>003-122305- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH 520 PM EST WED NOV 12 2003 ...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM EST... A BAND OF SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE RAPIDLY EAST ACROSS NORTHERN OHIO INTO NORTHWEST PENNSYLVANIA THROUGH 10 PM. SOME OF THE STORMS MAY BECOME SEVERE WITH DAMAGING WINDS OR POSSIBLE LARGE HAIL. IN ADDITION...THERE IS THE POSSIBILITY THAT AN ISOLATED TORNADO COULD FORM. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST 30 TO 40 MILES AN HOUR AND SHOULD REACH THE MANSFIELD AREA AROUND 6 PM...CLEVELAND AND THE AKRON- CANTON AREAS AROUND 7 PM...ASHTABULA AND YOUNGSTOWN ABOUT 8 PM AND ERIE AND MEADVILLE AROUND 9 PM. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THESE STORMS FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS...SO HAVE A PLAN OF ACTION READY. ADAMS
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CLEVELAND OH
831 PM EST WED NOV 12 2003
TIME(EST) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0745 PM CANTON OH 60 MPH TSTM WND GST
11/12/03 STARK
0708 PM 8 E MOUNT VERNON OH TSTM WND DMG
11/12/03 KNOX SEVERAL TREES DOWN AND SOME
DAMAGE TO BUILDINGS
0707 PM WOOSTER OH TORNADO
11/12/03 WAYNE POSSIBLE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN
IN WOOSTER. REPORTS OF
SEVERAL BUSINESSES DAMAGED.
0500 PM MCCOMB OH 1.00 INCH HAIL
11/12/03 HANCOCK
GTGThe 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 Pennsylvania in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Pennsylvania, November 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: 5331779, 5331780, 5331781.