Hurricane Dora
Around 12:20 a.m. EST on September 10, Hurricane Dora made landfall about north of St. Augustine, Florida, with sustained winds between 115 and 125 mph (185 and 205 km/h). Although estimated to have been a Category 3 at landfall, the highest winds onshore were believed to have been in the Category 2 range. Striking northeastern Florida, Dora became the first tropical cyclone on record to make landfall in the region. Once onshore the storm gradually weakened, losing hurricane status about 24 hours later, and began a gradual turn towards the northeast. During the morning of September 12, Dora became almost stationary over the southern border between Alabama and Georgia. However, the storm rapidly accelerated and re-emerged into the Atlantic Ocean on September 14 near the Outer Banks of North Carolina. Hours after moving over water, the system transitioned into an extratropical cyclone. The remnants of Dora were last mentioned on September 16 off the northeast coast of Newfoundland.
2003 Atlantic hurricane season
Early on July 26 it moved ashore on St. Catherines Island, Georgia, and after steadily weakening over land it dissipated on July 27. As the storm was never forecast to attain tropical storm status, no tropical storm warnings or watches were issued. However, flood watches were posted for much of Georgia and South Carolina. The depression dropped light to moderate rainfall from Florida to the coast of North Carolina, peaking at in Savannah, Georgia. Mostly, rainfall totals between were common. There were no reports of damage or casualties associated with this depression.
The precursor system to Hurricane Erika was first observed as a non-tropical low on August 9 about east of Bermuda. It tracked quickly southwestward then westward in tandem with an upper-level low, which prevented tropical development. On August 13 an area of convection increased as it passed through the Bahamas, and while crossing Florida a circulation built toward the surface; it is estimated the system developed into Tropical Storm Erika on August 14 about west-southwest of Fort Myers, Florida. A strong ridge caused the storm to continue quickly westward, and the system gradually strengthened and organized. By August 15 its forward motion slowed, allowing the convection to organize into curved rainbands, and late in the day an eye feature began developing. Tropical Storm Erika attained hurricane status at around 1030 UTC as it was moving ashore in northeastern Tamaulipas; operationally it was not classified as a hurricane, due to lack of data. The winds rapidly decreased as it tracked across the mountainous terrain of northeastern Mexico, and early on August 17 the cyclone dissipated.