The following is a list of weather events that occurred on Earth in the year 2003. The most common weather events to have a significant impact are blizzards, cold waves, droughts, heat waves, wildfires, floods, tornadoes, and tropical cyclones. The deadliest event of the year was a European heatwave that killed 72,210 people, which broke several nationwide temperature records.
The year began with El Niño conditions, which meant that sea surface temperatures over the equator over the eastern Pacific Ocean were anomalously warm. [1]
| Rank | Event | Date(s) | Deaths (+Missing) | Refs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | European heatwave | July–August | 72,210 | [2] |
| 2 | Sri Lanka floods | May 10–20 | 260 | [3] |
| 3 | Bukit Lawang, Indonesia flash flood | November 12 | 180 | [4] |
| 4 | Typhoon Maemi | September 5–16 | 120 | [5] [6] |
| 4 | Vietnam floods | October 14–November 14 | 103 | [7] |
| 5 | ||||
| 6 | ||||
| 7 |
The following listed different types of special weather conditions worldwide.
In the summer of 2003, there was a severe heatwave across Europe, considered the warmest summer on the continent since 1540. The heat and drought killed 72,210 people across 15 countries, making it the sixth deadliest disaster worldwide in the first two decades of the 21st century. Most of the deaths occurred in Italy and France. Several nationwide temperature records were broken during the heatwave, with a peak temperature of 44.1 °C (111.4 °F) recorded in France on August 12. [8] [2] [9]
There was also a heat wave across the United States from March through November that killed 35 people. [10]
Throughout the year, there were 1,374 tornadoes in the United States. [11] In a one week period in May, a severe weather outbreak produced 335 tornadoes across 26 U.S. states, which set the record for the most twisters in a single week. There were 51 deaths related to the event. [12] [10]
There was two tropical cyclones active as the year began – Cyclone Zoe in the southern Pacific Ocean, which quickly transitioned into an extratropical cyclone, and Tropical Storm Delfina, which moved across Mozambique and Malawi. [13] [14] There were seven named storms that developed within the South Pacific during the year. In the South-West Indian Ocean, there were 13 named storms, including a series of four simultaneous storms in February. [15] [16] The strongest cyclone in 2003 was Cyclone Inigo, which in April became one of the strongest cyclones ever recorded in the Australian basin. [17] Inigo was one of nine named storms in the basin during the year, along with an unnamed storm. [15] [16]
In the northern hemisphere, the western Pacific featured 21 named storms, including Typhoon Maemi, which was the strongest storm on record to hit South Korea, resulting in 120 deaths and damage estimated at ₩5.52 trillion won (KRW, US$4.8 billion). [5] [6] [18] In the northern Indian Ocean, there were five cyclonic storms, including one in May that produced flooding across Sri Lanka, killing 260 people. [3] [19] The Atlantic hurricane season lasted from April to November with 16 named storms. These included Fabian and Juan, the strongest hurricanes to hit Bermuda and Nova Scotia, respectively, in several decades. [20] [21] [22] In the eastern Pacific, there were also 16 named storms, several of which affected Mexico. [23]
In January, high winds and lightning ignited bushfires in Canberra, Australia's capital city, which burned 70% of the territory's nature areas before being contained. The fires killed four people and caused 435 injuries. [24] Throughout the northern hemisphere summer, wildfires burned 10% of Portugal's territory, killing 19 people. [25]
This is a timeline of deadly weather events during 2003.
The 2003 Pacific typhoon season was a slightly below average yearlong period of tropical cyclogenesis exhibiting the development of 45 tropical depressions, of which 21 became named storms; of those, 14 became typhoons. Though every month with the exception of February and March featured tropical activity, most storms developed from May through October. During the season, tropical cyclones affected the Philippines, Japan, China, the Korean Peninsula, Indochina, and various islands in the western Pacific.
The 1990 Pacific typhoon season was another active season. It has no official bounds; it ran year-round in 1990, but most tropical cyclones tend to form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean between May and November. These dates conventionally delimit the period of each year when most tropical cyclones form in the northwestern Pacific Ocean.
Typhoon Maemi or, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Pogi, was the most powerful typhoon to strike South Korea since record-keeping began in the country in 1904. Maemi formed on September 4, 2003 from a disturbance in a monsoon trough in the western Pacific Ocean. It slowly intensified into Tropical Storm Maemi while moving northwestward, becoming a typhoon on September 8. That day, favorable conditions facilitated more rapid strengthening; the storm developed a well-defined eye and reached peak maximum sustained winds of 195 km/h (121 mph). While near peak intensity, Maemi decelerated and began turning to the north-northeast. Soon after, the eyewall passed over the Japanese island of Miyako-jima on September 10 and produced an air pressure reading of 912 mbar (26.9 inHg), the fourth-lowest recorded in the nation. Due to warm waters, Maemi was able to maintain much of its intensity before it made landfall just west of Busan, South Korea, on September 12. The typhoon became extratropical in the Sea of Japan the next day, although its remnants persisted for several days, lashing northern Japan with strong winds.
During 2007, tropical cyclones formed within seven different tropical cyclone basins, located within various parts of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. During the year, a total of 129 systems formed with 79 of these developing further and were named by the responsible warning centre. The strongest tropical cyclone of the year was Cyclone George, which was estimated to have a minimum barometric pressure of 902 hPa (26.64 inHg). The deadliest tropical cyclone of the year was Cyclone Sidr in the North Indian Ocean which killed 15,000 people in Bangladesh. The costliest tropical cyclone of the year was Cyclone Gonu in the North Indian Ocean, which caused more than $4.41 billion in damage after striking Oman, United Arab Emirates, Iran and Pakistan. The most active basin in the year was the Western Pacific, which documented 24 named systems. The North Atlantic had an above-average season with 15 named storms. The Eastern Pacific hurricane season experienced a below-average number of tropical storm intensity systems, numbering 11. Activity across the Southern Hemisphere's three basins – South-West Indian, Australian, and South Pacific – was fairly significant, with the regions recording 25 named storms altogether, with the most intense storm of the year coming from the Australian basin. Throughout 2007, twenty one major tropical cyclones formed, including five Category 5 tropical cyclones in the year. The accumulated cyclone energy (ACE) index for the 2007, as calculated by Colorado State University was 568.1 units.
Severe Tropical Storm Linfa, known in the Philippines as Tropical Storm Chedeng, brought deadly flooding to areas of the Philippines and Japan in May and June 2003. The fourth named storm within the northwestern Pacific that year, Linfa developed as a tropical depression just off the western coast of Luzon on May 25. The disturbance quickly intensified to reach tropical storm intensity a few hours after cyclogenesis. However, intensification leveled off as Linfa executed a small clockwise loop before a subsequent landfall on Luzon on May 27. Due to land interaction the storm temporarily weakened and decoupled before reforming in the Philippine Sea. Afterwards Linfa began reintensifying and reached its peak intensity on May 29 with maximum sustained winds of 100 km/h (65 mph) and a barometric pressure of 980 mbar. Following its peak the tropical storm began to deteriorate and transitioned into an extratropical cyclone on May 30; these extratropical remnants continued to track northward through Japan before dissipating in the Sea of Okhotsk on June 4.
The following is a list of weather events that occurred on Earth in the year 2020.
Tropical cyclones regularly affect the coastlines of most of Earth's major bodies of water along the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans. Also known as hurricanes, typhoons, or other names, tropical cyclones have caused significant destruction and loss of human life, resulting in about 2 million deaths since the 19th century. Powerful cyclones that make landfall – moving from the ocean to over land – are some of the most impactful, although that is not always the case. An average of 86 tropical cyclones of tropical storm intensity form annually worldwide, with 47 reaching hurricane/typhoon strength, and 20 becoming intense tropical cyclones, super typhoons, or major hurricanes.
The following is a list of weather events that occurred in 2018.
The following is a list of weather events that occurred on Earth in the year 2002. There were several natural disasters around the world from various types of weather, including blizzards, cold waves, droughts, heat waves, tornadoes, and tropical cyclones. The deadliest disaster was a heat wave in India in May, which killed more than 1,030 people. The costliest event of the year was a flood in Europe in August, which killed 232 people and caused €27.7 billion (US$27.115 billion) in damage. In September, Typhoon Rusa struck South Korea, killing at least 213 people and causing at least ₩5.148 trillion (US$4.2 billion) in damage.
The following is a list of weather events that occurred on Earth in the year 2004. There were several natural disasters around the world from various types of weather, including blizzards, cold waves, droughts, heat waves, tornadoes, and tropical cyclones. The deadliest disaster was Hurricane Jeanne, which killed more than 3,000 people when it struck Hispaniola, mostly in Haiti. This was just four months after flooding in Hispaniola killed 2,665 people. Jeanne was also the fourth hurricane to strike the United States in the year, following Charley, Frances, and Ivan. Ivan was the costliest natural disaster of the year, causing US$26.1 billion in damage in the Caribbean and the United States.
The following is a list of weather events that occurred in 2011. The year began with La Niña conditions. There were several natural disasters around the world from various types of weather, including blizzards, cold waves, droughts, heat waves, tornadoes, and tropical cyclones.
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The following is a list of weather events that occurred on Earth in the year 1985. The year began with a La Niña. The most common weather events to have a significant impact are blizzards, cold waves, droughts, heat waves, wildfires, floods, tornadoes, and tropical cyclones. The deadliest weather event of the year was the Ethiopia famine, which killed at least 400,000. The costliest weather event of the year was Hurricane Juan, which caused around $1.5 billion in damages in the Southern United States. Another significant weather event was the Bangladesh cyclone in May, which killed 11,069 people and damaged nearly 100,000 houses.
The following is a list of weather events that occurred on Earth in the year 2005. The year began with a weak El Niño, although this would fade into a neutral phase later in the year. The most common weather events to have a significant impact are blizzards, cold waves, droughts, heat waves, wildfires, floods, tornadoes, and tropical cyclones.
{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)| Global weather by year | ||
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| Preceded by 2002 | Weather of 2003 | Succeeded by 2004 |
