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F1 tornado in McCracken County, Kentucky

Tornado May 6, 2003 · McCracken County, Kentucky

F1
Rating
3.5 mi
Path length
80 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

NOAA recorded where this tornado touched down but not where it lifted, so it appears as a point. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F1 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F1 meant moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken; the scale paired it with winds of 73–112 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

Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted. The tornado began just east of U.S. Highway 45 on the south side of Lone Oak, and moved southeast across Highway 994 (Old Mayfield Road) to about Highway 1954 (Husband Road). Peak winds were estimated near 80 MPH.

The wider storm

The most prolific tornado-producing storm of the night entered western Kentucky near the confluence of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers and moved east, passing between Paducah and Mayfield. The storm continued to spawn tornadoes, mostly of weak to moderate intensity, until it reached Kentucky Lake. Elsewhere, severe thunderstorms moved northeast across northwest Kentucky, producing sporadic wind damage and a tornado. Sporadic wind damage occurred in Livingston, Crittenden, Webster, and Daviess Counties, with a tornado in Union and Henderson Counties.

Began near Lone Oak (36.8500, -88.2667).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

10 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

F2 Ballard CountyF1 Graves CountyF1 Graves CountyF1 Marshall CountyF1 Marshall CountyF1 Union CountyF1 Henderson CountyF1 Hickman CountyF1 Graves CountyF0 McCracken County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5351995. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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