TornadoLookup

Home / Missouri / Dallas

F3 tornado in Dallas County, Missouri

Tornado May 4, 2003 · Dallas County, Missouri

F3
Rating
14.0 mi
Path length
880 yd
Path width
2
Deaths
10
Injuries
$3.8M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 880 yards (0.50 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.

The wider storm

This is a continuation of the Polk County tornado that entered the northwestern portion of Dallas County near the Polk-Hickory-Dallas County lines. The tornado then tracked through rural areas and small communities of northern Dallas County where it destroyed approximately 48 homes and outbuildings and claimed the lives of two local residents.Bob and Robin Moroni ages 49 and 47, were sleeping in their modular home when the tornado struck. They were both deceased from being thrown several yards from their location.

Began near Louisburg (37.7833, -93.2000).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5358172. 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.