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F2 tornado in Leavenworth County, Kansas

Tornado May 4, 2003 · Leavenworth County, Kansas

Rating

6.0 mi

Path length

250 yd

Path width

Injuries

$4.0M

Damage as recorded

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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 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.

What the National Weather Service wrote

Tornado on the ground 2 miles northwest of Linwood at County Road 25 and Interstate 70. Reported by emergency management and ham radio operator. Video shows the tornado crossed the Kansas Turnpike east of the Eastern Toll Booth, and then proceeded northeast to where it lifted 2 miles south of Basehor. Total track length was 6 miles, with a width approaching 250 yards at times. Maxium intensity rating was F2, with most damage noted to homes near and just northeast of the intersection of 166th and Kansas Road.

The wider storm

A dry line moved into eastern Kansas and initiated severe thunderstorm development the afternoon of May 4th. Several of the thunderstorms became tornadic in Miami, Leavenworth and Wyandotte counties. The strongest tornado reached F4 intensity in Kansas City Kansas before moving into Missouri. This tornado killed an 82 year old man and injured 30 others. Wyandotte county also had $15.5 million dollars in damage, with 69 buildings destroyed, and 390 suffering damage. Leavenworth county had 9 homes destroyed, 8 with major damage and 17 with minor damage. Damage estimates for Leavenworth county are around $4 million dollars. This was the most significant tornado outbreak in the Kansas City Metropolitan areas, since the Pleasant Hill tornado outbreak of 1977. A 46 year old woman died from injuries received with this tornado on October 10th, 2003.

Began near Linwood (38.3500, -94.9167).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

F4 Wyandotte County 2 dead F1 Leavenworth County F1 Miami County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5358621. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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