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F1 tornado in Miami County, Kansas

Tornado May 4, 2003 · Miami County, Kansas

F1
Rating
7.0 mi
Path length
150 yd
Path width
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 F1 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F1 meant moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken; the scale paired it with winds of 73–112 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 just near New Lancaster in Miami county Kansas moved northeast into Cass county Missouri. The tornado was over open country.

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 New Lancaster (39.1167, -94.6667).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

F4 Wyandotte County 2 deadF2 Leavenworth CountyF1 Leavenworth County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5358917. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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