Home / Missouri / Newton

F2 tornado in Newton County, Missouri

Tornado May 4, 2003 · Newton County, Missouri

Rating

49.0 mi

Whole path

400 yd

Path width

Deaths

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 400 yards (0.23 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F2 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F2 meant considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted; the scale paired it with winds of 113–157 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

A seven mile long path of rural east central Newton County was affected from the initial stages of a large tornado. Three homes and outbuildings were destroyed while five more were damaged causing approximately one half million dollars in monetary loss. This tornado then tracked through Lawrence, Christian, and southwestern Greene counties.

Began near Ritchey (36.9167, -94.2000).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5358438. 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.