2 lightning, 2 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it; 2 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 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 Jul 16, 3:10 PM EST, 1 hour 50 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA 410 PM EDT WED JUL 16 2003 OVERVIEW: NOT MUCH CHANGE IN THINGS FROM YESTERDAY...MEAN TROUGH IN THE EAST AND RIDGE IN THE WEST...THE RESULT IS OCCNL SHORTWAVES COMING DOWN THE RIDGE PROVIDING A FOCUSING MECHANISM FOR TSTMS... AND DIURNAL POPS WHEN ON THE EAST SIDE OF THE TROUGH. SHORT TERM: ETA AND GFS ARE SIMILAR...SO TMPS ARE BASICALLY AVG OF GDNC...WGTD TWD DRY ADIABIATIC LOWERING OF 850 TMP FOR DAYTIME HIGHS. TON-THU NGT: WK SFC FRONT SLIDES ACRS CWA PRODUCING SCT EVE SHRA/TSTMS (ISO EAST WHERE SLGTLY WARMER AT MID LVLS). THU SHLD BE DRY...XCPT ACRS NE NC ZONES (THU AND ALSO CSTL TID VA THU NGT) WHERE CHC AFT SHRA/TSTM ALNG STALLED FRNTL BNDRY. THU SHLD BE COOLEST AND LEAST HUMID DAY OF FCST W/ WK HIGH PRES BLDNG IN AND OK DWPT GRADIENT W/ FRNT TON. FRI-FRI NGT: NXT WK FRNT SLWLY CROSSES CWA...W/ ONCE AGAIN BEST DYNAMICS GOING BY TO N...HWVR MDL SNDGS INDICATE DECENT CAPES (2-3 KJ)...SO CHC AFT/EVE TSTM W/ PASSAGE. SAT-SAT NGT: BNDRY STALLS OUT NR CWA SO OBLIGATORY DIURNAL POPS... YET ANOTHER WARM AND HUMID SUMMER DAY. EXTENDED: 0Z GFS HAD CNVCTV FEED BACK INDUCED VORT WITH A SFC RFLCTN THAT TRVLD THRU TN VALLEY AND INDICATED A WET SUN...THIS FEATURE WAS IN NO OTHER MODEL (INCLUDING 6 AND 12Z GFS) SO WAS DISREGARDED. 12Z GFS HAS SIMILAR FEATURE (CNVCTV FEEDBACK INDUCED VORT) THAT SPINS UP SFC LW ON SLW MVNG COLD FRONT IN VCNTY OF GRT LKS SUN NGT INTO MON...SO ITS HINTS AT A WET MON WERE ALSO DISREGARDED. BASICALLY FOLLOWED A BLEND OF ECMWF/CANADIAN/NOGAPS/AND BLEND OF 0 AND 12Z GFS WITH SPURIOUS VORTS (AND ASSOC SFC RFLCTNS) IGNORED. SHLD BE A QUIET SUN ESP N...BUT STILL HAVE HINTS OF LINGERING FRNTL BNDRY...SO CHC AFT/EVE TSTMS SUN ACRS SRN 2/3 OF CWA. RTN FLW SETS UP FOR MON...SO DIURNAL POPS EVRY WHERE. COLD FRNT FINALLY APPRCHS (ASSOC W/ SLW MVNG LOW SYS ACRS SRN CANADA) TUE SO CHC SHRA/TSTM EVERY WHERE. FRONT DOESNT MAKE COAST TIL WED AM ACCRDNG TO HPC... AND GFS SUGGESTS IT WILL HANG UP ALNG COAST...SO CHC POPS E...DRY W WED. MARINE: NO WINDS ABV 15 KTS (XCPT 15-20 THIS EVNG) IN THE FCST PD (THRU MON) FCSTID = 33 SBY 67 85 66 87 / 20 10 10 30 OXB 71 80 70 82 / 20 10 10 30 ECG 72 87 71 89 / 20 20 40 40 ORF 74 85 73 86 / 20 10 30 30 PHF 71 87 70 88 / 20 10 10 30 AKQ 67 88 67 89 / 30 10 10 30 RIC 68 87 68 88 / 30 10 10 30 FVX 66 89 66 90 / 30 10 10 30 .AKQ... .MD...NONE. .NC...NONE. .VA...NONE. MALOIT
MDZ021>025-NCZ012>017-030>032-102-VAZ048-049-060>100-161600- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA 530 AM EDT WED JUL 16 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND EASTERN VIRGINIA... NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA AND THE LOWER MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE. .DAY ONE...TODAY SCATTERED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. THUNDERSTORMS MAY CONTAIN GUSTY WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. 25 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.
VAZ073-078>090-NCZ012-162100- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA 353 PM EDT WED JUL 16 2003 ...THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT PARTS OF SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA THROUGH 5 PM... AT 350 PM...RADAR SHOWED A BAND OF SHOWERS AND SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS FROM LAKE GASTON TO PRINCE GEORGE...TO THE MIDDLE PENINSULA AND NORTHERN NECK. THE SHOWERS AND STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. AREAS FROM JACKSON AND EMPORIA...TO WAKEFIELD... WILLIAMSBURG...GLOUCESTER AND LANCASTER...CAN EXPECT BRIEF DOWNPOURS...WIND GUSTS TO 30 MPH...AND OCCASIONAL LIGHTNING. IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE AND CAN HEAR THUNDER...YOU ARE IN DANGER OF BEING STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. SEEK SAFE SHELTER UNTIL THE STORMS PASS. NS
NCZ012-013-VAZ084-086>094-VAZ099-162200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA 455 PM EDT WED JUL 16 2003 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ARE AFFECTING PARTS OF SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA... AT 455 PM...A BAND OF SHOWERS AND STRONG THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM ROANOKE RAPIDS AND EMPORIA TO WAVERLY...WILLIAMSBURG...MATHEWS AND WALLOPS ISLAND. THE SHOWERS AND STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. THE STORMS WILL AFFECT JACKSON...FRANKLIN...WAKEFIELD...NEWPORT NEWS...MATHEWS AND ACCOMACK THROUGH 5 PM. THE STORMS WILL APPROACH AHOSKIE...SUFFOLK...HAMPTON AND MELFA BY 5 PM. EXPECT HEAVY DOWNPOURS...GUSTY WINDS TO 40 MPH...SMALL HAIL AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING WITH ANY THUNDERSTORMS. IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE AND CAN HEAR THUNDER...YOU ARE IN DANGER OF BEING STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. SEEK SAFE SHELTER UNTIL THE STORMS PASS. NS
The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 81 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:14 UTC.
2 lightning, 2 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail. Local standard time, as filed.
Lightning caused a fire which destroyed four boats and damaged two others at the Horn Harbor Marina.
Trees snapped one mile east of Patrick Henry Mall. Trees down on Maxwell and Lisa Lanes. Tree on a house off Nesbitt Court.
Large trees down in Settlers Landing.
Emergency crews responded to several fires due to lightning. Power outages reported.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Virginia in 2003Every state in 2003This day in weather historyWarnings in Virginia, July 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: 5379324, 5378955, 5378954, 5378957, 5378956, 5378958.