hurricanesmapped

NORTH ATLANTIC · SEASON MAP

2003 Atlantic hurricane season

Every recorded track, mapped · 21 storms · 21 Apr 2003–11 Dec 2003

ACCUMULATED CYCLONE ENERGY176.3
Open in the explorerExplore
2003 Atlantic hurricane season: every recorded storm trackRecorded tracks of all 21 storms, colored by the wind category at each observation. Hover or focus a storm in the table to highlight its track.UNITED STATESCANADAMEXICOCUBABRAZILAFRICAEUROPECHINAJAPANINDIAGulf of MexicoAtlantic OceanPacific OceanArabian SeaBay of BengalAna: 21 Apr–24 Apr, peak 50 kt, Tropical stormUnnamed: 11 Jun–11 Jun, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionBill: 29 Jun–2 Jul, peak 50 kt, Tropical stormClaudette: 8 Jul–17 Jul, peak 80 kt, Category 1Danny: 16 Jul–21 Jul, peak 65 kt, Category 1Unnamed: 19 Jul–21 Jul, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionUnnamed: 25 Jul–27 Jul, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionErika: 14 Aug–17 Aug, peak 65 kt, Category 1Unnamed: 21 Aug–22 Aug, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionFabian: 27 Aug–8 Sep, peak 125 kt, Category 4Grace: 30 Aug–2 Sep, peak 35 kt, Tropical stormHenri: 3 Sep–8 Sep, peak 50 kt, Tropical stormIsabel: 6 Sep–19 Sep, peak 145 kt, Category 5Unnamed: 8 Sep–10 Sep, peak 30 kt, Tropical depressionJuan: 24 Sep–29 Sep, peak 90 kt, Category 2Kate: 25 Sep–7 Oct, peak 110 kt, Category 3Larry: 1 Oct–6 Oct, peak 55 kt, Tropical stormMindy: 10 Oct–14 Oct, peak 40 kt, Tropical stormNicholas: 13 Oct–23 Oct, peak 60 kt, Tropical stormOdette: 4 Dec–7 Dec, peak 55 kt, Tropical stormPeter: 9 Dec–11 Dec, peak 60 kt, Tropical storm

Drag to pan · Pinch or Ctrl/⌘ + scroll to zoom. Keyboard: plus or minus to zoom, arrow keys to pan, and 0 to show the whole map.

Whole season

DepressionTropical stormCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 5Post-tropical
Every storm of the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season. Column headers sort the list.
Ana–50Tropical storm9943,020
Unnamed–30Tropical depression1008300
Bill–50Tropical storm9971,390
Claudette–80Cat 19793,440
Danny–65Cat 110002,530
Unnamed–30Tropical depression1010820
Unnamed–30Tropical depression1016270
Erika–65Cat 1986930
Unnamed–30Tropical depression1007190
Fabian–125Cat 49394,940
Grace–35Tropical storm1007740
Henri–50Tropical storm997830
Isabel–145Cat 59153,860
Unnamed–30Tropical depression1007410
Juan–90Cat 29691,360
Kate–110Cat 39525,570
Larry–55Tropical storm993990
Mindy–40Tropical storm1002700
Nicholas–60Tropical storm9904,270
Odette–55Tropical storm9931,990
Peter–60Tropical storm9901,050

21 storms with an IBTrACS 2003 hurricane season record. Tracks are the archived center positions, first observation 21 Apr 2003, last 11 Dec 2003.

Tropical storms16

Tropical-stage US-agency wind of 34 kt or more

Hurricanes7

64 kt or more, one-minute sustained

Major (Category 3+)3

96 kt or more, Saffir–Simpson scale

Category 51

137 kt or more at any tropical-stage observation

Strongest stormIsabel

145 kt · 167 mph / 269 km/h

Lowest pressure915 hPa

Isabel, 11 Sept 2003

Longest track record19.8 days

Nicholas, full archive record

Storms without US-agency wind0

Mapped, but outside the counts above

QUICK ANSWERS

The 2003 season in brief

How many hurricanes were there in the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season?

The archive records 7 hurricanes (one-minute winds of 64 kt or more) among 16 tropical storms, with 3 major hurricanes reaching 96 kt. Counts use US-agency winds during the tropical stage.

What was the strongest storm of the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season?

Isabel, with a peak one-minute sustained wind of 145 kt (Category 5) on 11 Sept 2003, 18:00 UTC and a minimum central pressure of 915 hPa.

How many Category 5 storms were there in 2003?

1 storm in the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season reached Category 5 on the Saffir–Simpson one-minute wind scale: Isabel.

When did the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season start and end?

The first tropical-stage observation is on 21 Apr 2003 and the last on 11 Dec 2003, from 21 tracked storms in the archive.

What was the first hurricane of the 2003 Atlantic hurricane season?

Claudette, which reached hurricane strength (64 kt) on 10 Jul 2003, 12:00 UTC.

METHODOLOGY

Data sources and limitations

The map and totals are generated from NOAA’s IBTrACS v04r01 archive. A storm belongs to this page when the archive lists it in the North Atlantic basin for the 2003 season, so a December storm whose track ends in January stays with its season. Storms that cross between basins appear on the page of their archive basin only.

Counts use US-agency one-minute winds during the tropical stage: 34 kt for a tropical storm, 64 kt for hurricane strength and 96 kt for major intensity, on the Saffir–Simpson scale in every basin. Local agencies classify storms differently, and official season summaries can differ from the archive. Accumulated cyclone energy sums squared winds at six-hourly synoptic times, counting observations in the calendar year. Storms with no US-agency wind are mapped but cannot enter the counts.

The map frame is the same for every North Atlantic season, so a track that leaves it is cut at the edge. Lines show each storm’s center, not its size, rainfall or flood extent. Coastlines use Natural Earth’s 1:10m land data.

Archive retrieved

NOAA IBTrACS archive · Field documentation

Sources & methodology