A deepening low pressure system pushed a strong cold front across the area early in the morning of the 13th. Behind the front, the west winds increased to be sustained between 25 and 35 mph with gusts between 45 and 55 mph.
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.
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 BGM wrote it up.
A deepening low pressure system pushed a strong cold front across the area early in the morning of the 13th. Behind the front, the west winds increased to be sustained between 25 and 35 mph with gusts between 45 and 55 mph. A few winds gusts measured as high as 58 mph. Most counties had scattered trees and wires down. Tens of thousands of electric customers lost power due to wires and utility poles coming down. In northeast Pennsylvania, Honesdale and Hamlin, both in Wayne County, had the worst damage, with over 9,000 customers losing power.
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 Binghamton, NY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Nov 13, 10:20 AM EST, 1 hour 40 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY 1020 AM EST THU NOV 13 2003 .DISCUSSION... LOTS GOING ON TODAY SO HERE ARE THE LENGTHY CLIFF NOTES FOR THE UPDATE. WIND... ALREADY HAD HIGH ADVISORY WIND GUSTS EARLIER TODAY WITH FROPA. TIGHTEST GRADIENT AND ISALLOBARIC COUPLET TO LINE UP WITH NWLY WIND SHIFT LATER TODAY. CONFIDENCE LOW ON WARNING CRITERIA THE FURTHER SOUTH ONE GOES...AND IMPACT SHOULD BE LESS SINCE DECIDUOUS TREES HAVE DE-LEAFED...BUT SINCE WERE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE EVENT WITH BEST FACTORS YET TO COME INTO PLAY...CANT REALLY BACK OFF AT THIS POINT BASED ON A GUT FEELING. HIGH WIND WARNING WILL STAND AS IS. SNOW... BLYR AND SFC TEMPS STILL WARM ENOUGH FOR RAIN...ALTHOUGH MIXING WITH SNOW AT ELEVATION IS OCCURRING AND TEMPS PROGGED TO CONTINUE FALLING WITH FRZG LVL LOWERING BLO 1200 FT BY DAYS END. CONSIDERABLE AREA OF SNOW SHOWERS NOTED ON CANADIAN RADARS DROPPING SOUTH WITH SFC-850 MB TROF. BEST FORCING ON BACK SIDE OF UPR LOW STILL SHOWN TO BE MAINLY NORTHERN AREAS THRU THE EVENING AND COINCIDING WITH LLVL WIND SHIFT WITH LAKE ENHANCEMENT OFF ONTARIO LATER TODAY WITH DEEPER MOIST LAYER IN THE DENDRITIC ZONE. ATMOS ALSO QUITE UNSTABLE IN THE LOW LVLS...INDICATING A SQUALLY WINDEX EVENT POSSIBLE. IN GENERAL...FEEL THAT ADVSRY SNOW ACCUM NUMBERS WONT BE REALIZED OVER WIDESPREAD AREA EXCEPT FOR SRN TUG HILL AND HIGHER TERRAIN OF FINGER LAKES...NRN SUSQUEHANNA ZONES WHERE SOME LOCALES MAY GET 4 WHEN ALL IS SAID AND DONE. MUCH OF AREA GENERALLY 1-3...ESPLY HIGH TERRAIN. THE ONLY THING HOLDING THIS ADVSRY TOGETHER IS EXPECTATION THAT THIS EVENT WILL MAXIMIZE DURING THE 20Z-00Z TIME FRAME...A.K.A. RUSH HOUR. AND IF CONDITS ARE SQUALLY... IT COULD BE A BAD SCENE IN MANY AREAS. FOR THAT REASON...WILL ALSO LEAVE THIS WINTER HEADLINE ALONE AND EVEN EXPAND IT TO STEUBEN/CHEMUNG COUNTIES. PER MESONET...TEMPS IN THE HIGH TERRAIN OUT THERE ARE ALREADY BELOW FRZG WITH SNOW AT DSV AND ELZ. PROBABLY NOT MUCH STICKING NOW...BUT IT WILL EVENTUALLY ESPLY AS LAKE ERIE FETCH CONTINUES FOR SVRL HOURS. THEN...SRN EDGE OF SYNOPTIC SNOW GETS INTO THIS AREA LATER. LOTS OF ADJUSTMENTS MADE TO GRIDS. HEADLINE PRODUCTS COMING SOON...FOLLOWED BY ZONES. .BGM WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NY...HIGH WIND WARNING ALL ZONES. WINTER WEATHER ADVISORY ALL ZONES EXCEPT SULLIVAN COUNTY. PA...HIGH WIND WARNING ALL ZONES. && BREWSTER
NYZ009-015>018-022>025-036-037-044>046-055>057-062-PAZ038>040-043- 044-047-048-072-131030- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BINGHAMTON NY 430 AM EST THU NOV 13 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL NEW YORK AND NORTHEAST PENNSYLVANIA. .DAY ONE...TODAY... A POWERFUL STORM SYSTEM MOVING INTO QUEBEC WILL CAUSE STRONG WINDS TO DEVELOP OVER THE REGION TODAY. SNOW SHOWERS WILL INCREASE THROUGH TONIGHT...WITH STRONG WINDS GREATLY REDUCING VISIBILITIES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SKYWARN ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE REQUIRED TODAY. HOWEVER SPOTTERS ARE STRONGLY ENCOURAGED TO REPORT WIND DAMAGE...WIND READINGS...AND SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OVER 1 INCH. PADAVONA
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
7 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: 5332021, 5332022, 5332127, 5332128, 5332129, 5332130, 5332131.