7 tornado, 2 thunderstorm wind, 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 23, 2:20 AM EST, 1 hour 10 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA 320 AM EDT TUE SEP 23 2003 .OVERVIEW...PROGRESSIVE PATN ACRS ERN CONUS THIS FORECAST PERIOD AS A SERIES OF MIGRATORY SYSTEMS DROP THRU GREAT LAKES AND ACRS NRN MID ATLC/NE STATES. AFTER A WET START EARLY TODAY...MUCH OF THE RMNDR OF THE WORKWEEK DRY AND SEASONABLE. .SHORT TERM...FIRST SHORT WAVE TROF DIGGING CROSSING THE MTNS THIS MORN AND WILL MOVE QUICKLY TWD THE COAST TODAY. SWATH OF ASSOCD PCPN MOVG ACRS PIEDMONT AREAS IN THE PREDAWN HOURS AND TWD CSTL PLAIN THRU MID MORN. PCPN QUITE HEAVY IN SPOTS BUT AMOUNTS REMAINING BLO 1HR/3HR FLASH FLOOD GUIDANCE ATTM. WL CONT TO WATCH CLOSELY BUT THINK ANY FLOOD PROBS WILL NOT BE WIDESPREAD ENOUGH TO WARRANT AN FFA. ALSO CONVECTION MAY BE STRING ENUF TO PULL DOWN 35-40 MPH WINDS WHICH CUD KNOCK OVER ANY LEANING OR WEAKENED TREES REMAINING FROM ISABEL. PCPN MOVES QUICKLY OFF THE COAST BY ARND MIDDAY AS UPR CONFLUENCE/MID LVL SUBSIDENCE PUSHES EAST. DOWNSLOPING HELPS TEMPS RECOVER BACK NR80/L80S UNDER CLEARING AFTN SKIES. GOOD RADIATIONAL COOLING DEVELOPING TONIGHT WITH COOL READINGS IN THE L-M50S AWAY FM COAST (PSBL U40S IN THE NORMALLY COLDER SPOTS). VERY PLEASANT WEDNESDAY. SOME INCREASING AFTN CLOUD COVER WITH DEVELOPING RETURN FLOW AS SFC HIGH/UPR RDG MOVE OFFSHORE. .EXTENDED...NEXT SHORT WAVE TROF/SFC COLD FRONT APPROACH ON THU. BEST SUPPORT FOR PCPN AND HIGHER MEAN RH MOVE N OF AKQ FORECAST AREA THU NIGHT INTO FRI. THINK ANY PCPN ACRS AKQ FORECAST AREA WUD BE ISOLD SO NO INCLUSION IN FCST ATTM. .MARINE...WL KEEP SCA IN THE BAY THIS MORN GIVEN MODERATE SOUTHERLY FLOW AHEAD SFC COLD FRONT. .AVIATION...IFR/MVFR CONDS THIS MORN WITH PCPN BAND. IMPROVING TO VFR THIS AFTN. .PRELIMINARY TEMPS/POPS... SBY 79 52 76 56 / 80 00 00 10 OXB 79 60 74 61 / 80 00 00 10 WAL 79 58 77 60 / 80 00 00 10 FVX 80 53 79 55 / 30 00 00 10 RIC 80 57 78 58 / 40 00 00 10 PTB 81 54 79 56 / 40 00 00 10 AKQ 80 56 80 58 / 60 00 00 10 PHF 80 61 77 59 / 60 00 00 10 ORF 81 64 78 64 / 80 00 00 10 ECG 82 61 80 64 / 80 00 00 10 .AKQ... .MD...NONE. .VA...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY CHES BAY S OF SMITH POINT. .NC...NONE. CULLEN
MDZ021>025-NCZ012>017-030>032-102-VAZ048-049-060>100-221600- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA 535 AM EDT MON SEP 22 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR CENTRAL AND EASTERN VIRGINIA... NORTHEAST NORTH CAROLINA AND THE LOWER MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE. .DAY ONE...TODAY FLOOD WARNINGS REMAIN IN EFFECT ALONG THE JAMES...APPOMATTOX AND CHOWAN RIVER BASINS /SEE WBCFLSAKQ FOR DETAILS/. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... FLOOD WARNINGS WILL CONTINUE IN EFFECT ALONG THE JAMES...APPOMATTOX AND CHOWAN RIVER BASINS /SEE WBCFLSAKQ FOR DETAILS/. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. CULLEN 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.
VAZ048-049-060>071-079-080-231045- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WAKEFIELD VA 400 AM EDT TUE SEP 23 2003 ...VERY HEAVY RAINFALL OCCURRING OVER THE VIRGINIA PIEDMONT EARLY THIS MORNING... AN AREA OF RAIN AND EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE VIRGINIA PIEDMONT IN THE PREDAWN HOURS. PRECIPITATION WILL BE HEAVY AT TIMES ALONG AND WEST OF THE I95 AND I85 CORRIDORS WITH RAINFALL AMOUNTS BETWEEN ONE AND ONE HALF INCHES EXPECTED BY 6 AM. THIS AMOUNT OF RAIN WILL CAUSE PONDING OF WATER ON ROADS AND POSSIBLE FLOODING IN LOW LYING AND POOR DRAINAGE AREAS. OCCASIONAL DANGEROUS CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING MAY ALSO OCCUR. EARLY MORNING MOTORISTS ARE URGED TO USE CAUTION. WIND GUSTS MAY REACH 35 TO 40 MPH AT TIMES IN AND AROUND THE HEAVIEST DOWNPOURS. THESE WIND GUSTS COULD KNOCK DOWN LEANING OR WEAKENED TREES FROM RECENT HURRICANE ISABEL. CULLEN
The Norfolk radar (KAKQ), 109 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 08:31 UTC.
7 tornado, 2 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
F0 tornado twisted and down trees. Hay barns damaged.
Small tornado downed several trees. A couple of trees fell on houses.
F1 tornado on Route 614. Barn destroyed. Mobile home also destroyed and overturned several times.
F0 tornado damage on the east side of Brandermill, in the Clarendon neighborhood (near Swift Creek Middle School). Numerous trees down, with a few on homes.
F1 tornado damaged several homes between Azalea and Wilmer Avenues. Trees uprooted and shed overturned.
F1 tornado downed numerous trees and destroyed one shed. Also, several metal roofs on commercial buildings were damaged.
F1 tornado along Studley Road. Numerous trees down.
Several large trees down on Route 5.
Several trees down. Gas pump canopy blown off.
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: 5372157, 5371779, 5371780, 5371783, 5371782, 5372156, 5371781, 5371778, 5371866.