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F1 tornado in Limestone County, Alabama

Tornado May 6, 2003 · Limestone County, Alabama

Rating

15.0 mi

Path length

500 yd

Path width

$350K

Damage as recorded

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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 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

17 homes with minor to major roof damage, 5 barns destroyed and at least 150 trees uprooted and twisted.

Began near Shanghai (34.8500, -87.0833).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

F1 Lauderdale County F1 Madison County F1 Dekalb County F0 Colbert County F0 Madison County F0 Jackson County F0 Jackson County F0 Cullman County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5364859. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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