TornadoLookup

Home / Kentucky / Henderson

F1 tornado in Henderson County, Kentucky

Tornado May 6, 2003 · Henderson County, Kentucky

F1
Rating
11.0 mi
Path length
100 yd
Path width
$350K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. 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

The tornado entered the southwest corner of the county from Union County. Most of the significant damage occurred near Robards, where three mobile homes were destroyed. Several large barns were destroyed. An empty grain silo was damaged. Upwards of 100 trees were down. The damage ended along U.S. Highway 41 near the Pennyrile Parkway at a truck stop. Peak winds were estimated near 110 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 Corydon (36.9500, -88.8167).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

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

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5352474. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.