States › North Carolina › 2003

North Carolina, 2003

The year's recorded storm events, federal disaster declarations and flood insurance claims.

1,938events recorded1,252 in 2002

14deaths recorded39 injuries

$503Mproperty damage (estimates)$21M crop damage

2disaster declarations7,276 NFIP claims, $112M paid

NCEI notes that Storm Data is compiled from a variety of sources including the National Weather Service, other federal, state and local agencies, the media and the public; that property and crop damage figures are estimates; and that some events are recorded by NWS forecast zone rather than by county. FEMA notes that NFIP claim records are redacted and aggregated to protect the privacy of policyholders.

Events by hazard

Wind515

Winter479

Hail411

Flood361

Lightning48

Tropical47

Tornado36

Other27

Cold14

Includes events recorded by forecast zone. The state's yearly total for 2003 was 1,938 against 1,252 in 2002.

Counties with the most recorded events

County	Events in 2003
Buncombe County	53
Mecklenburg County	49
Rutherford County	49
Rowan County	42
Avery County	41
Mitchell County	41
Madison County	40
Yancey County	40
Cleveland County	39
Gaston County	39
Caldwell County	38
Union County	38
Catawba County	37
Henderson County	35
Iredell County	35
Rockingham County	34
Davidson County	33
Lincoln County	33
Davie County	32
Cabarrus County	31
McDowell County	31
Surry County	31
Burke County	30
Swain County	30
Macon County	28

Notable events

Date	County	Event type	Magnitude	Property damage	Deaths	Injuries
16 Jun 2003	Stanly	Flash Flood	—	—	5	—
29 Jul 2003	Mecklenburg	Lightning	—	$30,000	3	1
6 Jul 2003	Madison	Flash Flood	—	$50,000	1	1
19 Jun 2003	Craven	Lightning	—	—	1	1
18 Sep 2003	Chowan	Hurricane (Typhoon)	—	$7,600,000	1	—
18 Sep 2003	Franklin	Hurricane (Typhoon)	—	$209,000	1	—
11 Jul 2003	Union	Flash Flood	—	—	1	—
22 Aug 2003	Orange	Lightning	—	—	1	—
17 Sep 2003	Forecast zone	Hurricane (Typhoon)	—	$347,000,000	—	—
17 Sep 2003	Pamlico	Hurricane (Typhoon)	—	$50,000,000	—	—
2 May 2003	Mecklenburg	Thunderstorm Wind	69 mph	$25,000	—	3
22 Feb 2003	Gaston	Lightning	—	$10,000	—	3
2 May 2003	Rowan	Thunderstorm Wind	75 mph	$10,000	—	3
11 Jul 2003	Bladen	Thunderstorm Wind	69 mph	$4,000	—	3
2 May 2003	Mecklenburg	Thunderstorm Wind	75 mph	$100,000	—	2
7 Jun 2003	Currituck	Tornado	F0	$25,000	—	2
16 Aug 2003	Union	Lightning	—	—	—	2
4 Aug 2003	McDowell	Lightning	—	—	—	2
11 Jul 2003	Nash	Lightning	—	—	—	2
17 Sep 2003	Carteret	Hurricane (Typhoon)	—	$16,000,000	—	—
17 Sep 2003	Beaufort	Hurricane (Typhoon)	—	$3,600,000	—	—
17 Sep 2003	Washington	Hurricane (Typhoon)	—	$12,000,000	—	—
31 Jul 2003	Rutherford	Lightning	—	$50,000	—	1
5 Aug 2003	Sampson	Lightning	—	$8,000	—	1
29 Jul 2003	Union	Lightning	—	—	—	1
29 Jul 2003	Mecklenburg	Lightning	—	—	—	1
12 Jul 2003	Buncombe	Lightning	—	—	—	1
18 Jul 2003	Rutherford	Lightning	—	—	—	1
10 Aug 2003	Transylvania	Lightning	—	—	—	1
7 Aug 2003	Iredell	Lightning	—	—	—	1
22 Aug 2003	Cleveland	Lightning	—	—	—	1
7 Aug 2003	Iredell	Lightning	—	—	—	1
21 Jul 2003	Mecklenburg	Lightning	—	—	—	1
14 Oct 2003	Wilson	Thunderstorm Wind	58 mph	—	—	1
2 May 2003	Mecklenburg	Lightning	—	—	—	1
22 Aug 2003	Cleveland	Lightning	—	—	—	1
3 May 2003	Scotland	Hail	1.75 in	$5,000,000	—	—
18 Sep 2003	Pasquotank	Hurricane (Typhoon)	—	$4,500,000	—	—
17 Sep 2003	Craven	Hurricane (Typhoon)	—	$2,500,000	—	—
18 Sep 2003	Bertie	Hurricane (Typhoon)	—	$2,500,000	—	—

Up to 40 events with deaths, injuries, damage of $50,000 or more, or a tornado rating, ranked by deaths, injuries and damage.

Federal disaster declarations in 2003

Declared	Number	Type	Incident	Title	Counties
18 Sep 2003	DR-1490	Major disaster	Hurricane	Hurricane Isabel	48
27 Mar 2003	DR-1457	Major disaster	Severe Ice Storm	Ice Storm	9

Flood insurance claims with a 2003 date of loss

7,276 NFIP claims, 5,565 of them paid, for $111,774,028.

Sources: NOAA NCEI Storm Events through 30 Jun 2026; OpenFEMA DisasterDeclarationsSummaries v2 (29 Sep 2026); OpenFEMA NfipClaims v3 (8 Sep 2026). Built 30 Sep 2026.