1 heavy rain, as filed by the National Weather Service.
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 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 San Juan, PR wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Aug 31, 5:20 AM AST, 6 hours 26 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR 520 AM AST SUN AUG 31 2003 CATEGORY 3 HURRICANE FABIAN CONTINUES ON A WEST NORTHWEST COARSE AND THIS MOTION IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE FOR THE NEXT 48 HOURS...BEFORE IT BEGINS A MORE NORTHWESTERLY TRACK TUESDAY AND BEYOND. MODEL CONSENSUS HAS CHANGED VERY LITTLE OVER THE PAST FEW DAYS IN TAKING FABIAN ON A PATH OFF TO THE NORTHEAST OF THE LOCAL AREA...AND THIS CONTINUES TO BE THE FORECAST FROM NHC. FABIAN IS THE FIRST MAJOR HURRICANE OF THE YEAR...AND IS FORECAST TO INCREASE EVEN FURTHER IN INTENSITY TO BECOME A CATEGORY 4 HURRICANE LATER TODAY. THE EXPECTED POSITION OF THIS MAJOR HURRICANE WILL HAVE IRONIC CONSEQUENCES ON LOCAL AREA WEATHER CONDITIONS. IR SATELLITE IMAGERY AND WATER VAPOR IMAGERY SHOW EXTREME SUBSIDENCE SURROUNDING FABIAN...NOT A SURPRISE...ALL HURRICANES HAVE SUBSIDENCE ON THEIR OUTER PERIPHERIES...EVEN MORESO WITH MAJOR HURRICANES. THE SUBSIDENCE FIELD SHOWS UP VERY WELL ON THE CIMMS SAHARAN AIR LAYER ANALYSIS. THE STRONGEST SUBSIDENT ZONE IS ON ITS WEST AND SOUTHWEST SIDES...STRETCHING FOR ABOUT 500 MILES FROM FABIANS CIRRUS CANOPY. THIS ZONE OF SUBSIDENCE WILL OVERSPREAD THE NORTHEAST CARIBBEAN BY TONIGHT....LEADING TO VERY PLEASANT WEATHER CONDITIONS THROUGH AT LEAST EARLY WEDNESDAY. NORTHEASTERLY FLOW IS SEEN BUILDING INTO THE LEEWARDS...AND THIS IS THE BEGINNING OF THE SUBSIDENT ZONE. THIS FLOW EVENTUALLY WILL MAKE IT INTO THE LOCAL AREA LATER THIS AFTERNOON. BEFORE IT DOES SO...HOWEVER...I BELIEVE WE WILL GET SOME SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS GOING. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS PARTS OF THE SAN JUAN AREA FROM AN EL YUNQUE STREAMER...BEFORE THE FLOW SHIFTS. ALSO...THE NORTHWEST PART OF PR. BY MID AFTERNOON...I BELIEVE THE BEGINNING OF THE SUBSIDENT AREA AND NORTHEAST FLOW WILL HAVE BUILD INTO THE AREA...SHUTTING OFF MOST OF THE CONVECTION. ASIDE FROM THE SOUTHWEST CORNER OF THE ISLAND...BELIEVE BY LATE AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING...WEATHER CONDITIONS WILL BE MOSTLY SUNNY AND TRANQUIL. MADE MAJOR ADJUSTMENTS TO THE GRIDS/FORECAST FOR TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY....MARKEDLY IMPROVING THE EXPECTED WEATHER CONDITIONS. EXPECT VERY LITTLE SHOWER ACTIVITY TO FORM THROUGH THIS PERIOD...WITH PLENTY OF SUNSHINE IN THE DAYTIME AND MOONLIT SKIES AT NIGHT...ONLY THROUGH SOME WISPY HIGH CIRRUS CLOUDS. LATE WEDNESDAY AND BEYOND THE FLOW WILL BECOME SOUTH SOUTHEASTERLY...WHICH WILL BRING IN MORE MOISTURE TO THE AREA. ALSO...FABIANS SUBSIDENCE WILL BE LEAVING THE AREA...BRINGING US BACK TO A MORE TYPICAL SUMMERTIME REGIME ACROSS PR/VI BY LATE IN THE WEEK. THE MARINE FORECAST GAVE ME A HEADACHE THIS MORNING...IT IS VERY TRICKY. OF COURSE FABIANS WIND FIELD IS GENERATING SWELLS. HOW MUCH WILL GET HERE AND TIMING ARE THE BIG QUESTIONS. THE WAVEWATCH MODEL WHICH TAKES THE GFDL WINDS WAS USED THIS FORECAST. THIS MODEL SHOWS SWELLS RAPIDLY INCREASING ACROSS THE LOCAL WATERS MONDAY NIGHT/TUE MORNING...WITH SIG WAVEHEIGHTS ACROSS THE OFF SHORE ATLANTIC WATERS REACHING 2.6 METERS ON TUESDAY. BELIEVE THESE WAVEHEIGHTS WILL ALSO BE SEEN ACROSS OUR EASTERN CARIB ZONES AS WELL. THEREFORE...INCREASED WAVEHEIGHTS WITH THIS EXPECTATION. IT SHOULD BE NOTED THAT THE WAVEWATCH GUIDANCE SHOWS THE PERIOD OF THE EASTERLY SWELL TO BE OVER 13 SECONDS. THIS WOULD PRODUCE BREAKING WAVES OF OVER 10 FEET ACROSS PARTS OF THE EAST COAST OF PR AND THE VI TUESDAY...SO A HEAVY SURF ADVISORY MAY BE NEEDED BY THEN. UPDATED ADVISORIES ON HURRICANE FABIAN CAN BE FOUND AT: WWW.NHC.NOAA.GOV GREGORIA SJU... .PR...NONE. .VI...NONE. EQUIPMENT...NO PROBLEMS AT THIS TIME.
PRZ001>013-VIZ001-002-AMZ710>750-312200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN JUAN PR 600 AM AST SUN AUG 31 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PUERTO RICO. .TODAY AND TONIGHT...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR ACROSS PUERTO RICO THIS AFTERNOON...MAINLY OVER THE WEST TO NORTHWEST SECTIONS OF PUERTO RICO...TO THE NORTHWEST OF THE LOCAL ISLANDS AND BETWEEN EL YUNQUE AND THE SAN JUAN METRO AREA. ALTHOUGH NO SIGNIFICANT FLOODING IS EXPECTED... A FEW LOCATIONS WILL RECEIVE ENOUGH RAINFALL TO RESULT IN SOME URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING...WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF LOCALIZED FLASH OR RIVER FLOODING. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. .MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR ACROSS THE LOCAL ISLANDS DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS...MAINLY DURING THE AFTERNOON HOURS...WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR SOME URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING. WE HAVE TO CONTINUE TO KEEP A CLOSE WATCH ON THE TRACK OF HURRICANE FABIAN WHICH IS NOW A CATEGORY 3 HURRICANE ABOUT 650 MILES EAST OF THE LEEWARD ISLANDS AND IS FORECAST TO MOVE NORTHEAST OF PUERTO RICO DURING WEDNESDAY. NO OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS. .TODAY AND TONIGHT...BRIEF PASSING SHOWERS WILL OCCUR ACROSS THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS...MAINLY THIS MORNING. OTHER SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP TO THE WEST NORTHWEST OF THE ISLANDS IN THE AFTERNOOON. ALTHOUGH NO SIGNIFICANT FLOODING IS EXPECTED...A COUPLE OF LOCATIONS MAY RECEIVE ENOUGH RAINFALL TO RESULT IN SOME MINOR URBAN AND GUT FLOODING OR PONDING OF WATER ON ROADWAYS. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. .MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY...SCATTERED SHOWERS WILL OCCUR ACROSS THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS DURING THE NEXT FEW DAYS MAINLY OVERNIGHT INTO THE MORNING HOURS...WITH THE SLIGHT POTENTIAL FOR SOME MINOR URBAN AND GUT FLOODING. WE HAVE TO CONTINUE TO KEEP A CLOSE WATCH ON THE TRACK OF HURRICANE FABIAN WHICH IS NOW A CATEGORY 3 HURRICANE ABOUT 650 MILES EAST OF THE LEEWARD ISLANDS AND IS FORECAST TO MOVE NORTHEAST OF THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS DURING WEDNESDAY. NO OTHER HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION...VISIT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WEB SITE FOR PUERTO RICO AND THE U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS AT (ALL LOWERCASE LETTERS): HTTP://WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/SJU.
1 heavy rain. Local standard time, as filed.
Heavy rains were reported along the San Juan metro area. Urban flooding was reported along Kennedy Avenue, Dorado, Cataño, Bayamon and Guaynabo.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Puerto Rico in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Puerto Rico, August 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: 5377772.