2003 Atlantic hurricane season

An active, unusually long season

The archive tracks 21 tropical cyclones in 2003, including five depressions that never reached tropical storm strength. The accumulated cyclone energy of 176.3 reflects how much of that activity came from long-lived, intense hurricanes, above all Fabian and Isabel. The site's counts of tropical storms, hurricanes and major hurricanes match those in the National Hurricane Center's season summary.

By the National Hurricane Center's measure, the season ran well above the 1944 to 2003 average of about 10 named storms and 6 hurricanes, placing it among the top fifth of seasons for named storms and the top eighth for accumulated cyclone energy. NOAA's May outlook had given a 55 percent chance of above-normal activity, expecting La Niña conditions to develop.

How the season unfolded

Activity began six weeks before the official start. Ana formed as a subtropical storm west of Bermuda on April 20 and became tropical the next day. Tropical Storm Bill came ashore in Louisiana on June 30, and July brought Hurricane Claudette's slow track across the Gulf of Mexico and Hurricane Danny's large loop over the central Atlantic. The seventh tropical depression of the year had formed by the end of July, well ahead of the usual pace.

Hurricane Erika raced across the Gulf in mid-August, and the season's peak followed quickly. Fabian formed near the Cape Verde Islands on August 27, Tropical Storm Grace moved into Texas days later, and Henri, Fabian and Isabel were all active on September 7. Late September added Hurricane Juan, which formed southeast of Bermuda, and Hurricane Kate in the eastern Atlantic.

October brought three tropical storms. Larry drifted in the Bay of Campeche before moving into Tabasco, Mindy formed over the eastern Dominican Republic, and Nicholas spent ten days as a tropical cyclone far out at sea. Its remnant then looped over the Atlantic into early November, giving it the longest recorded track of the year. After a quiet November, Tropical Storm Odette and Tropical Storm Peter formed in early December.

Isabel, Fabian and Kate

Hurricane Isabel formed from a tropical wave on September 6 and reached a peak of 145 kt with a central pressure of 915 hPa on September 11, well northeast of the Lesser Antilles. It stayed at Category 4 or higher for more than five days and kept a wide, persistent eye. On September 13, a dropsonde in its eyewall measured a 203 kt wind about 1.4 km above the sea, which the National Hurricane Center described as the strongest wind ever observed in an Atlantic hurricane.

Hurricane Fabian, a long-lived Cape Verde hurricane, peaked at 125 kt on September 1 east-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands and held Category 3 or 4 strength for almost a week. Its lowest pressure, 939 hPa, came on September 4. Hurricane Kate, the season's third major hurricane, took an unusual hairpin track in the east-central Atlantic before peaking at 110 kt on October 4, about 565 nautical miles east-southeast of Bermuda.

Hurricane Juan peaked at 90 kt south of Nova Scotia on September 27. Hurricane Claudette, the season's first hurricane, reached its 80 kt peak as it made landfall in Texas, while Hurricane Danny and Hurricane Erika each peaked at 65 kt.

Landfalls and impacts

Hurricane Isabel weakened before making landfall near Drum Inlet on North Carolina's Outer Banks on September 18, with winds estimated at 90 kt. Its storm surge reached 3.2 m on the Neuse River and set record water levels in Washington, Baltimore and Annapolis, beating marks from 1933. The National Hurricane Center counted 17 direct and 34 indirect deaths. Its report first estimated U.S. damage at $3.37 billion in 2003 dollars, and notes that the estimate was revised to $5.37 billion in 2011.

Hurricane Fabian's eastern eyewall crossed Bermuda on September 5 with winds near 100 kt, and it was the worst hurricane there since 1926. Waves of 6 to 9 m, on top of a surge near 3 m, pounded the south shore, and property damage was put at a minimum of $300 million (2003 US dollars). Of Fabian's eight direct deaths, four people drowned when they were swept off a Bermuda causeway.

Hurricane Juan made landfall near Halifax, Nova Scotia, on September 29 with winds near 85 kt, the first time a hurricane eyewall had hit the city since 1893. Halifax Harbour recorded its highest water level on record, 1.5 m above normal tide, and hundreds of thousands of people in Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island lost power. The National Hurricane Center's updated report lists four direct and four indirect deaths. Damage was estimated at about C$200 million, or US$150 million, in 2003 currency.

Hurricane Claudette struck Matagorda Island, Texas, on July 15, causing one direct death and an estimated $180 million in U.S. damage (2003 dollars). Tropical Storm Bill caused four deaths and about $50 million in losses in Louisiana and Mississippi. Hurricane Erika came ashore south of Matamoros on August 16, where two people died in flooding. In Mexico, Tropical Storm Larry's floods caused five deaths. In December, Tropical Storm Odette struck the Dominican Republic, where the government attributed eight direct deaths to mud slides and flash floods.

Records, forecasts and retired names

Ana was the first tropical storm on record in the Atlantic in April. Odette was the first December tropical storm on record to form in the Caribbean Sea, and with Peter it made 2003 the first year since 1887 with two December tropical storms.

2003 was the first season in which the National Hurricane Center issued five-day track and intensity forecasts. Its track errors were the smallest on record at every forecast period, and the average five-day error was about as large as two-day errors from the early 1980s.

The World Meteorological Organization retired the names Fabian, Isabel and Juan in spring 2004, replacing them with Fred, Ida and Joaquin for the 2009 season.