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F3 tornado in Greene County, Missouri

Tornado May 4, 2003 · Greene County, Missouri

F3
Rating
49.0 mi
Whole path
500 yd
Path width
7
Deaths
48
Injuries
$47.8M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Newton County → Lawrence County → Christian County → Greene County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 500 yards (0.28 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 tornado is a continuation of the Christian County tornado that entered southwestern Greene County and laid down a path of destruction into the city of Battlefield. 100 homes and outbuildings were destroyed while another 150 were damaged causing estimated monetary losses of 14.7 million dollars. The tornado also claimed the life of one local resident and injured 12.Stephanie Allton age 40, was outdoors caring for her pets before taking shelter while the tornado approached. She was then deceased from being struck by a falling oak tree.

Began near Battlefield (37.0833, -93.4167).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5358175. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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