2003 North Atlantic hurricane season
Hurricane Isabel 2003
Hurricane Isabel brought destructive surge and widespread power failures to the eastern United States in September 2003. Its broad circulation remained dangerous at landfall even after weakening from a Category 5 Atlantic peak.
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167 mph
Sep 11, 2003 during the tropical stage
Full archive record, including non-tropical stages if present
Along the recorded center positions
STORM HISTORY
From the eastern Atlantic to North Carolina
Isabel developed from a tropical wave in the eastern Atlantic on September 6. Warm water and light wind shear supported strengthening as it moved west-northwest. It reached maximum one-minute winds of 145 kt and a central pressure of 915 hPa on September 11.
After several days of fluctuating intensity, Isabel weakened on its approach to the United States. It made landfall on North Carolina's Outer Banks on September 18 as a Category 2 hurricane, with winds near 105 mph. The system became extratropical over western Pennsylvania the next day and merged with another storm over eastern Canada.
Flooded coasts and prolonged outages
Storm surge cut a new inlet through Hatteras Island and damaged thousands of homes along the Outer Banks. Virginia suffered the greatest losses, with severe effects in Hampton Roads and flooding along rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. Some rural communities remained without electricity for weeks.
Strong winds cut electric service to roughly six million people across the eastern United States. Damage extended inland to West Virginia, while rain reached from South Carolina to Maine and west toward Michigan. The saved account estimates damage at US$3.6 billion in 2003 currency.
US impacts by state
Selected NOAA Storm Events records for hurricane, tropical storm and storm surge events during this storm's archived track. Deaths and injuries include reported direct and indirect impacts. These records are incomplete, particularly for indirect deaths, and are not storm-wide totals. Other hazards and impacts outside the US are excluded.
| State or territory | Deaths | Injuries | Property damage (event-year USD) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delaware | 0 | 0 | Not fully reported |
| District Of Columbia | 0 | 0 | $125,000,000.00 |
| Maryland | 1 | 200 | Not fully reported |
| New Jersey | 0 | 0 | Not fully reported |
| New York | 1 | 1 | Not fully reported |
| North Carolina | 2 | 0 | Not fully reported |
| Pennsylvania | 0 | 1 | Not fully reported |
| Virginia | 7 | 29 | Not fully reported |
Property damage is reported in dollars of the event year, without inflation adjustment; crop damage is excluded. A missing value is not zero. These figures do not replace the storm-wide estimates elsewhere on this page.
Source: NOAA NCEI Storm Events Database.
Further reading
NOAA IBTrACS v04r01 historical track archive
Official report (PDF) — National Hurricane Center, Tropical Cyclone Report.
QUICK ANSWERS
Isabel in brief
What was Hurricane Isabel's highest wind speed?
167 mph, the highest one-minute sustained wind in its tropical stage, recorded on Sep 11, 2003, 06:00 PM UTC.
What category was Hurricane Isabel?
Category 5 at its peak on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale, first reaching Category 5 on Sep 11, 2003, 03:00 PM UTC. Other agencies classify storms differently.
What was Hurricane Isabel's lowest pressure?
915 mb, the minimum central pressure recorded during its tropical stage, on Sep 11, 2003, 06:00 PM UTC.
When did Hurricane Isabel occur?
The archived track runs from Sep 6, 2003, 12:00 AM UTC to Sep 20, 2003, 12:00 AM UTC, with the tropical stage from Sep 6, 2003, 12:00 AM UTC to Sep 19, 2003, 09:00 AM UTC.
Where did Hurricane Isabel form?
In the North Atlantic basin, in the 2003 season. Its first archived position is 13.8°N, 31.4°W on Sep 6, 2003, 12:00 AM UTC.
Did Hurricane Isabel make landfall?
The archive places its center over land at 1 recorded position; the strongest is 86 mph on Sep 18, 2003, 09:00 PM UTC. Positions are six-hourly, so this is not a landfall chronology.
METHODOLOGY
Data sources and limitations
The map and summary are generated from NOAA's IBTrACS v04r01 archive. Wind and category use US-agency records; minimum pressure is calculated during the tropical stage, with the archive's pressure source retained. Category 5 refers to the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale; local agencies may use different classifications. Coastlines use Natural Earth's 1:10m land data.
Track distance adds great-circle distances between consecutive observations, excluding gaps over 12 hours. This track has no gaps over 12 hours. The line shows the storm's center, not its size, rainfall or flood extent. Converted wind speeds are rounded to the nearest whole unit.
Archive retrieved
NOAA IBTrACS archive and Field documentation
Sources & methodology