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Storms That Hit

NHC AL132003 · Atlantic basin

Hurricane Isabel (2003)

September 6, 2003 – September 20, 2003

Data: NOAA NHC HURDAT2 and NOAA SPC tornado and hail reports, through 2025 · Updated

Hurricane Isabel peaked at Category 5 with 167 mph sustained winds and passed within 75 miles of 838 US cities, 150 of them while still at hurricane strength.

Isabel in the record

HURDAT2 tracks Isabel from September 6, 2003 to September 20, 2003; its peak was 167 mph (Category 5). HURDAT2 marks a landfall within 50 miles of a US city on this site: on September 18 at 104 mph (Category 2), 27 miles from Beaufort, NC. Its centre passed within 75 miles of 838 US cities, in 6 states, most in Pennsylvania (244) and Virginia (211). The strongest pass was 100 mph (Category 2) 25 miles from Beaufort, NC; the centre came closest to Oakland, MD, less than a mile away.

Peak strength
Category 5

167 mph

Cities within 75 mi
838
At hurricane strength
150

when closest

States
6
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Cities Isabel passed near, strongest first

North Carolina (123)

and 63 more

Virginia (211)

and 151 more

West Virginia (72)

and 12 more

Pennsylvania (244)

and 184 more

Maryland (9)

Ohio (179)

and 119 more

Other storms of the 2003 season

  • BillTropical storm · 146 cities
  • ClaudetteCategory 1 · 96 cities
  • ErikaCategory 1 · 22 cities
  • GraceTropical storm · 84 cities

All hurricanes and tropical storms →

About this record

The track is the National Hurricane Center's best-track record, revised after the season with every observation available. Strength at a city is the sustained wind on the track at the closest point, not the wind that city measured.