F3 tornado — Lincoln County, Tennessee

F3 tornado in Lincoln County, Tennessee

Tornado May 5, 2003 · Lincoln County, Tennessee

Rating

1.6 mi

Path length

700 yd

Path width

Injuries

$50K

Damage as recorded

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 700 yards (0.40 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

The Oak Hill Baptist Church on Wiley Hollow Road was heavily damaged. The church was established in 1883. The nearby residence of the pastor had major roof damage. One of the parishioners was going to take shelter at the church. The tornado carried his truck over the roof of the church and crashed it on top of a nearby tree and utility pole. Also, a frame home on U.S Highway 231 was completely leveled in Belleville and the debris was burned on the spot. There were 2 injuries. One was due to a tree falling on a truck.

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5357340. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

F3 tornado in Lincoln County, Tennessee

What the National Weather Service wrote

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

Tornadoes near your address