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F4 tornado in Clay County, Missouri

Tornado May 4, 2003 · Clay County, Missouri

F4
Rating
1.0 mi
Path length
500 yd
Path width
$50K
Damage as recorded
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 F4 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F4 meant devastating damage: well-built houses levelled; the scale paired it with winds of 207–260 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

Tornado moved in from Platte county and dissipated just before 169 highway south of I-29.

The wider storm

A dry line moved into eastern Kansas on the afternoon of May 4th. Severe thunderstorms quickly erupted in the mid afternoon hours and marched east northeast into Missouri. Several of the severe thunderstorms became tornadic. A supercell thunderstorm produced 4 seperate tornadoes over the northland of Kansas City. The strongest tornadoes reached F4 in intensity and moved over southern portions of Platte and Clay counties. In Platte county 14 buildings were destroyed, 43 suffered major damage and 149 had minor damage. There were no fatalities or injuries and total damage was estimated at $33.95 million dollars.In Clay county total damages were estimated at $91 million dollars. Several hundred homes were either destroyed or had major or minor damage. No fatalities were observed but there were 19 injuries. This was the most significant tornado outbeak in the Kansas City Metropolitan area, since the Pleasant Hill Missouri outbreak in 1977.

Began near Gladstone (39.0833, -94.5667).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

F4 Clay CountyF4 Platte CountyF2 Cass CountyF2 Clay CountyF2 Johnson CountyF1 Cass CountyF1 Platte CountyF1 Johnson CountyF0 Pettis County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5358258. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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