1 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.
Every event with a place to put it. 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 Sep 18, 2:25 PM EST, 2 hours 35 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA 325 PM EDT THU SEP 18 2003 ...ZONES TO BE DELAYED UNTIL AFTR HRCN CONFERENCE CALL... .OVERVIEW...HRCN ISABEL HAS MADE LANDFALL ACROSS SE NC THIS AFTRN AND WILL CONT TO WEAKEN AS IT MOVES NW ACROSS ERN NC INTO THE PIEDMONT OF VA TONIGHT B4 LIFTG N OF RGN FRI. .SHORT TERM...NHC & GFS TRACK IN GOOD AGREEMENT. WILL CONT WDSPRD PCPN TONITE AS STORM MOVES N. THUNDER IN AREAS E OF I95 WHERE TORNADO WATCH CONTS THRU 00Z. HAVE NOTICED DRIER AIR WRAPPING ARND SYSTM FROM E PAST FEW HRS AND THIS MAY TEND TO LWR PCPN AMTS. GSTY WNDS AND FLOODING THREAT TO CONT TO BE ISSUE TONITE AS WELL. SYSTM FCSTD TO ACCELERATE AS IT MOVES N FRI. THUS XPCT PCPN TO RPDLY END OVR AKQ FA FRI AM. TSCTNS SHOW DRYING DRNG AFTRN...SO IT SHUD BECOME PT SUNNY ACROSS RGN. WNDY TO START WITH DMNSHG WNDS AS DAY PROGRESSES. NO SGNFT WX XPCTD UNTIL THE NXT CDFRNT APPRCHS FROM W TUE. WILL KEEP CHC POPS IN AS CRNTLY ADVERTISED. TMPS NR SEASONABLE NRMLS. .MARINE...CRNT WTCHS/WRNGS CONT AS IS. .PRELIMINARY TEMPS/POPS... SBY 69 79 65 81 / 99 60 10 10 OXB 68 78 66 81 / 99 40 10 10 WAL 68 79 66 81 / 99 40 10 10 FVX 64 81 61 82 / 99 60 10 10 RIC 65 80 62 82 / 99 60 10 10 PTB 66 82 62 82 / 99 40 10 10 AKQ 67 82 63 83 / 99 40 10 10 PHF 69 81 67 83 / 99 40 10 10 ORF 70 82 68 81 / 99 40 10 10 ECG 71 82 68 82 / 99 40 10 10 .AKQ... .MD...TRPLCL STORM WRNG...FLOOD WATCH FOR MDZ021>025. TORNADO WATCH THRU 00Z. .VA...HRCNE WRNG ERN VA VAZ074?078-084>086-089>091-093>100. INLAND HRCN WND WRNG VAZ081-082-087-088-092. INLAND TRPLCL STORM WND WRNG VAZ048-049-060>073-079-080-083. FLOOD WATCH THRU FRI AM VAZ048-049 -060>100. TORNADO WATCH THRU 00Z VAZ072>078-081>086087>100. .NC...HRCN WRNG NCZ015>017-030>032-102.INLAND HRCN WND WRNG NCZ012>014. FLOOD WATCH INTO FRI AM NCZ012>017-030>032-102. TORNADO WATCH THRU 00Z NCZ012>017-030>032-102. 44
MDZ021>025-NCZ012>017-030>032-102-VAZ048-049-060>100-181600- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA 535 AM EDT THU SEP 18 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND EASTERN VIRGINIA... NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA AND THE LOWER MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE. .DAY ONE...TODAY HURRICANE ISABEL WILL AFFECT THE ENTIRE AREA THROUGH TONIGHT. COASTAL AREAS WILL SEE A SIGNIFICANT STORM SURGE. ALL AREAS ARE UNDER THE THREAT OF ISOLATED TORNADOES. HEAVY RAIN WILL CAUSE POSSIBLE INLAND FLOODING. AN EXTREMELY LARGE WIND FIELD WILL CAUSE MANY TREES TO BE DOWNED. SEE HLSAKQ (WTUS81)...AND FFAAKQ (WGUS61) FOR MORE INFORMATION. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. TG 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.
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
0412 PM EDT THU SEP 18 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0400 PM SEABOARD NC WIND DAMAGE
09/18/03 NORTHAMPTON TREES AND POWER LINES
DOWN. REPORTED BY TRAINED
SPOTTER.
FOSTERPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED WIND SPEED...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
0420 PM EDT THU SEP 18 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0410 PM CHASE CITY VA 53 MPH WIND GUST
09/18/03 MECKLENBURG TREES DOWN ALL OVER THE
COUNTY.
FOSTERPRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
0420 PM EDT THU SEP 18 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0410 PM CHASE CITY VA 35 MPH WIND GUST
09/18/03 MECKLENBURG TREES DOWN ALL OVER THE
COUNTY.
FOSTERNCZ014-016-017-102-VAZ091-093>098-182230- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA 424 PM EDT THU SEP 18 2003 ...HURRICANE FORCE WINDS MOVING THROUGH THE AREA... AT 415 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY STRONG BANDS OF WIND MOVING INTO THE AREA. THESE MAY EVEN CAUSE VERY BRIEF TORNADOES. REPORTS OF WINDS GUSTING TO OVER 80 MPH HAVE BEEN RECEIVED. THESE WIND GUSTS AND SOME EVEN OVER 90 MPH ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE NEXT TWO HOURS. STAY INDOORS AS THESE HIGH WINDS MOVE THROUGH THE AREA. CONDITIONS WILL BE VERY DANGEROUS FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. 92 && LAT...LON 3711 7609 3640 7579 3643 7683 3728 7671
VAZ070-079>082-087>090-092-182245- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA 444 PM EDT THU SEP 18 2003 ...HURRICANE FORCE WINDS MOVING THROUGH THE AREA... AT 415 PM EDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED VERY STRONG BANDS OF WIND MOVING INTO THE AREA. THESE MAY EVEN CAUSE VERY BRIEF TORNADOES. WIND GUSTS OVER 80 MPH ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE NEXT TWO HOURS. STAY INDOORS AS THESE HIGH WINDS MOVE THROUGH THE AREA. CONDITIONS WILL BE VERY DANGEROUS FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. 92 && LAT...LON 3657 7806 3658 7696 3741 7666 3733 7748
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA
0453 PM EDT THU SEP 18 2003
TIME(EDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0448 PM COLONIAL HEIGHTS VA FLOOD
09/18/03 CITY OF COLONIAL HEIGHTS 6 INCHES TO 1 FOOT OF
WATER ON PINEHURST DR, N OF
SWIFT CREEK. REPORTED BY
LAW ENFORCEMENT.
FOSTERThe Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 67 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 22:00 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
Brief F0 tornado occurred in association with Isabel. No damage 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 historyThe tornado archive for Virginia, 2003Warnings in Virginia, September 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: 5370991.