F3 tornado in Faulkner County, Arkansas

Tornado May 4, 2003 · Faulkner County, Arkansas

Rating

34.9 mi

Whole path

400 yd

Path width

Injuries

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Faulkner County → Lonoke County → White County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

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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 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.

What the National Weather Service wrote

A strong tornado touched down in the southern part of Faulkner County, about 3 miles southwest of Saltillo. The tornado caused quite a bit of tree and power pole damage. Several homes and other buildings sustained some damage The tornado tracked to the northeast into Lonoke County.

Began near Saltillo (35.0000, -92.3667).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5361478. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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