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All storm pages · 2003 Atlantic season

Hurricane Isabel 2003

Category 5 hurricane · Atlantic · September 6 to September 19, 2003

Isabel produced 63.3 units of accumulated cyclone energy (ACE), the fifth-most of any Atlantic storm since 1851. It held major-hurricane strength (Category 3 or higher) for 192 hours, tied for the sixth-longest spell among Atlantic hurricanes. It reached Category 5 with 165 mph winds, one of 44 Atlantic storms to do so since 1851. The name Isabel is on the National Hurricane Center's list of retired Atlantic hurricane names.

Track of Isabel (2003) from the best-track record, coloured by strength20°N30°N40°N80°W70°W60°W50°W40°W30°WRichmondNorth Carolina, 105 mphPeak 165 mphFirst recordNot tropicalDepressionTropical stormCategory 1Category 2Category 3Category 4Category 500 and 12 UTCLandfall

Strength over time

Maximum sustained wind of Isabel (2003) over time, in mphTSCat 1Cat 2Cat 3Cat 4Cat 504080120160200Sep 7Sep 9Sep 11Sep 13Sep 15Sep 17Sep 19mph
  1. First record (tropical depression) far out at sea, at 13.8°N, 31.4°W
  2. Tropical storm far out at sea, at 13.9°N, 32.7°W
  3. Hurricane far out at sea, at 14.4°N, 37.3°W
  4. Major hurricane 1,180 miles northeast of Paramaribo, Suriname
  5. Peak 550 miles northeast of Saint John's, Antigua and Barbuda; lowest pressure 915 mb
  6. Landfall North Carolina
  7. No longer tropical (extratropical low) 10 miles north of Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania
  8. Last record 35 miles south-southeast of Timmins, Ontario, Canada

Against every Atlantic storm since 1851

Peak sustained wind165 mph · tied 21st of 1,98830 mph190 mph
Lowest central pressure915 mb · 20th of 1,277882 mb1016 mb
Accumulated cyclone energy63.3 · 5th of 1,7520.173.6
Days as a tropical or subtropical cyclone13.2 days · tied 86th of 1,9880.0 days31.8 days

More from the record

No other storm of the 2003 Atlantic season matched its 165 mph peak; the season had 21 storms.

It made landfall in North Carolina as a Category 2 hurricane on September 18, 2003, with 105 mph winds.

In the 2003 season

04080120160200Isabel

Storm 13 of 21 in 2003, hurricane 5 of 7; it formed after Henri and before Storm 14 of 2003. See the season.

Places the center passed

The center came within 50 miles of 7 towns or cities of 10,000 people or more while the system was tropical. Distances are to the interpolated track line, not the storm's edge.

PlaceClosestWind thenDate
Charlottesville, Virginia3 mi65 mphSeptember 19
Harrisonburg, Virginia3 mi60 mphSeptember 19
Greenville, North Carolina26 mi85 mphSeptember 18
Petersburg, Virginia31 mi70 mphSeptember 19
Rocky Mount, North Carolina33 mi80 mphSeptember 18
Richmond, Virginia38 mi70 mphSeptember 19
Lynchburg, Virginia49 mi65 mphSeptember 19

Every storm within 50 miles of Richmond, Virginia

Similar landfalls in North Carolina

Storms whose strongest landfall record in North Carolina came closest to Isabel's 105 mph:

All 69 storms with a landfall record in North Carolina

Also peaked at 165 mph

Of 6 storms from other Atlantic seasons, the nearest in time: