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F3 tornado in White County, Arkansas

Tornado May 4, 2003 · White County, Arkansas

F3
Rating
34.9 mi
Whole path
500 yd
Path width
5
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.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 500 yards (0.28 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 moved from Lonoke County into White County about 4 miles southeast of El Paso. The tornado moved across Highway 64 where several homes and businesses were destroyed with a number of other buildings suffering significant damage. Two tractor-trailers traveling along Highway 64 were hit by the tornado and overturned. The drivers of both vehicles suffered minor injuries. As the tornado continued moving to the northeast, numerous other homes and other buildings were either damaged or destroyed. A number of vehicles were also damaged or destroyed. Widespread trees and power poles were blown down along the track of the tornado. Some of the downed trees were 3 to 4 feet in diameter.

Began near El Paso (35.0833, -92.0333).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5361480. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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