As Hurricane Isabel weakened to a tropical storm, winds were sustained during the mid afternoon and early evening at up to 50 to 60 mph with gusts near 70 mph. In Campbell County, 2 homes were destroyed and 10 homes suffered minor damage.
Every event with a place to put it; 9 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 RNK wrote it up.
As Hurricane Isabel weakened to a tropical storm, winds were sustained during the mid afternoon and early evening at up to 50 to 60 mph with gusts near 70 mph. This produced widespread wind damage with numerous trees and power lines reported down.In Campbell County, 2 homes were destroyed and 10 homes suffered minor damage. In Amherst County, 1 residence suffered minor damage. In Appomattox County 1 home suffered major damage. In Buckingham County, 1 home was destroyed, 3 homes suffered major damage and 1 business suffered minor damage. In Charlotte County, 2 homes were destroyed, 30 homes suffered major damage, and 5 businesses suffered minor damage. Crop damage was also reported in Charlotte County. In Pittsylvania County, 1 home was destroyed, 20 suffered minor damage, 3 businesses suffered major damage, and crop damage was reported.
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 Blacksburg, VA wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 18, 9:05 AM EST, 4 hours 25 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG, VA
1005 AM EDT THU SEP 18 2003
INITIAL RAIN BAND OF ISABEL HAS MOVED INTO PIEDMONT AREAS A LITTLE
SOONER THAN EXPECTED. WILL ISSUE AN UPDATE SOON TO ACCOUNT FOR THIS
EARLIER TIMING FOR THE BEGINNING OF THE RAIN. BASED ON THE OFFICIAL
FORECAST TRACK...WHICH HAS BEEN VERY CONSISTENT...STILL LOOKING FOR
THE PEAK OF THE AFFECTS ON THE FA FROM ISABEL TO BE THIS EVENING.
HAVE ADJUSTED THE QPF HIGHER IN THE ERN PIEDMONT...AND ALSO LOWERED
MAX TEMPS A FEW DEGS. I ALSO ADJUSTED THE WIND GRIDS BASED ON THE
06Z TCM GRIDS.
.RNK...
NC...INLAND TROPICAL STORM WIND WARNING FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT NCZ006.
WIND ADVISORY TODAY AND TONIGHT NCZ004-005.
FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONE NCZ006.
VA...INLAND TROPICAL STORM WIND WARNING FOR TODAY AND TONIGHT
VAZ034-035...VAZ044>047...VAZ058-059.
INLAND TROPICAL STORM WIND WARNING FOR TONIGHT
VAZ019-020...VAZ023-024.
WIND ADVISORY TONIGHT VAZ018.
FLOOD WATCH FOR TONIGHT FOR ZONES
VAZ019>020...VAZ023>024...VAZ034>035...VAZ044>046 ...VAZ058>059.
WV...WIND ADVISORY TONIGHT WVZ043>045.
JJNCZ001>006-018>020-VAZ007-009>020-022>024-032>035-043>047-058-059- WVZ042>045-191100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BLACKSBURG VA 505 AM EDT THU SEP 18 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST WEST VIRGINIA... WESTERN AND CENTRAL VIRGINIA...AS WELL AS NORTHWEST NORTH CAROLINA. .DAY ONE...TODAY HURRICANE ISABEL IS EXPECTED TO TRACK NORTH NORTHWEST INTO SOUTHEAST VIRGINIA BY THIS EVENING...AND THEN INTO NORTHERN VIRGINIA BY FRIDAY MORNING. THIS TRACK COULD BRING TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS OF GREATER THAN 35 MPH TO LOCATIONS ACROSS EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE PIEDMONT OF VIRGINIA AND NORTH CAROLINA. IN PARTICULAR...LOCATIONS EAST OF A LINE FROM REIDSVILLE NORTH CAROLINA TO DANVILLE...TO LYNCHBURG TO AMHERST IN VIRGINIA...HAVE THE GREATEST CHANCE OF HAVING TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS. IN ADDITION...RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF GREATER THAN TWO INCHES MAY OCCUR FROM THURSDAY AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING...MAINLY EAST OF A LINE FROM SOUTH BOSTON TO LYNCHBURG TO LEXINGTON. PLEASE SEE THE FOLLOWING PRODUCTS...WBCNPWRNK...WBCFFARNK AND WBCSPSRNK REGARDING THE LATEST WATCHES...WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES. THESE PRODUCTS CAN BE VIEWED ON THE BLACKSBURG OFFICE INTERNET PAGE AT WWW.ERH.NOAA.GOV/ER/RNK. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED.
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
9 tropical storm. Local standard time, as filed.
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, September 2003The 2003 hurricane season
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: 5337308, 5337309, 5337307, 5337303, 5337305, 5337311, 5337306, 5337304, 5337310.