F3 tornado in Lonoke County, Arkansas

Tornado May 4, 2003 · Lonoke County, Arkansas

Rating

34.9 mi

Whole path

300 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 300 yards (0.17 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

The tornado moved from Faulkner County into the extreme northwest corner of Lonoke County, about 7.2 miles northwest of Cabot. The tornado moved across Highway 5 where a number of trees and power poles were blown down. Several homes also sustained some minor roof damage due to fallen trees. The tornado continued moving northeast into White County.

Began near Cabot (35.0333, -92.1000).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5361479. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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