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F3 tornado in Rusk County, Texas

Tornado April 6, 2003 · Rusk County, Texas

Rating

38.2 mi

Whole path

440 yd

Path width

$9.0M

Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Cherokee County → Rusk County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 440 yards (0.25 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F3 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F3 meant severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned; the scale paired it with winds of 158–206 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

A supercell thunderstorm moved northeast across Rusk County. Numerous wood frame and mobile homes were damaged with several homes totally destroyed. A few barns were damaged as well. One power substation was severely damaged. Numerous large Pine, Oak, and Pecan trees were twisted, broken and uprooted. This tornado moved into Rusk County from Cherokee County, TX.

Began near New Salem (31.9167, -94.9833).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5348725. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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