Tornadoes and Hail in Missouri, May 6, 2003

Name: Tornadoes and Hail in Missouri, May 6, 2003
Start: 2003-05-06T20:32
End: 2003-05-06T21:41
Location: Missouri

May 6, 2003 · NWS PAH · 4 events in 4 counties and zones

2 hail, 2 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: None recorded
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 4

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Paducah, KY wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at May 6, 2:16 PM CST, 6 hours 16 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 6, 2:16 PM CST, 6 hours 16 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
315 PM CDT MON MAY 5 2003

FORECAST CHALLENGES CONTINUE TO BE CONVECTIVE CHANCES THROUGHOUT THE
WEEK AND SEVERE WEATHER.

MANY PARAMETERS TO KEEP AN EYE ON THIS PACKAGE. ISOLATED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE ALONG WEAK FRONT ALONG THE
NORTHERN BOUNDARY OF THE CWA INTO THIS EVENING. THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD
INCREASE AS STORMS CURRENTLY OVER WESTERN MISSOURI AND KANSAS REACH
OUR AREA LATER THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE
WITH PART OF THE AREA IN MODERATE RISK.

FOLLOWING THE ETA/MESOETA FOR THE MOST PART AND ALL MODELS HAVE
GENERAL AGREEMENT ON SOME TIMING OVER THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS.
ATTEMPTED TO TIME THE PRECIPITATION IN THE GRIDS. ONE WAVE MOVES
THROUGH TONIGHT AND THE NEXT LATE WEDNESDAY NIGHT INTO
THURSDAY...LINGERING INTO FRIDAY. LEFT A SLIGHT CHANCE IN ON
SATURDAY.

THERE IS SOME CONCERN ABOUT FLOODING...BUT AFTER CONSULTING WITH
HYDROLOGIST...FEEL THAT WE HAVE HAD A DAY TO DAY OUT AND THE HIGHEST
QPF IS FORECAST TO OUR NORTH. WILL MENTION BOTH SEVERE AND HEAVY
RAINFALL.

AS FOR TEMPERATURES...GENERALLY WENT WITH A CONSENSUS OF AVAILABLE
GUIDANCE THROUGH THURSDAY.

.PAH...NONE.

PS

Hazardous weather outlook, May 6, 4:40 PM CST, 3 hours 52 minutes before

ILZ075>078-080>094-INZ081-082-085>088-KYZ001>022-MOZ076-086-087-100-
107>112-114-071000-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
540 PM CDT TUE MAY 6 2003

...TORNADO WATCH 275 IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT...
...POTENTIAL FOR SIGNIFICANT SEVERE WEATHER EPISODE EARLY TONIGHT
ACROSS THE REGION...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...SOUTHERN
ILLINOIS...SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND WESTERN KENTUCKY.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT

STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
MISSOURI AS OF LATE AFTERNOON. THIS ACTIVITY WILL BE HEADED EAST TO
SOUTHEAST INTO SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI BETWEEN 700
PM AND 900 PM. THERE IS A HIGH LIKELIHOOD OF SEVERE WEATHER WITH
THIS ACTIVITY...INCLUDING TORNADOES...HIGH WIND AND LARGE HAIL.
THE ACTIVITY WILL EVENTUALLY MOVE INTO SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND WESTERN
KENTUCKY AROUND MID EVENING.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE QUAD STATE
EARLY WEDNESDAY AND LATER WEDNESDAY NIGHT.  AN ORGANIZED LINE OF
STORMS MAY STILL BE PRODUCING SOME DAMAGING WINDS ACROSS THE FAR
EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE QUAD STATE AROUND SUNRISE WEDNESDAY
MORNING.  A COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE REGION LATER ON
WEDNESDAY...RESULTING IN DRY CONDITIONS FOR MUCH OF THE DAY.

HOWEVER...THE FRONT WILL BEGIN TO LIFT BACK NORTH ACROSS SOUTHEAST
MISSOURI AND SOUTHWEST KENTUCKY AFTER MIDNIGHT WEDNESDAY NIGHT.  THE
POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP ALONG AND JUST
NORTH OF THIS BOUNDARY...PRIMARILY OVER SOUTHEAST MISSOURI.  LARGE
HAIL WILL BE THE MAIN HAZARD...BUT DAMAGING WINDS AND AN ISOLATED
TORNADO CANNOT BE RULED OUT.

THERE WILL BE PERIODIC CHANCES OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM THURSDAY
THROUGH MONDAY...AS THE AREA REMAINS IN SOUTHWEST FLOW ALOFT AND A
MEANDERING FRONTAL BOUNDARY STAYS IN THE VICINITY.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

ACTIVATION OF SPOTTERS WILL BE NEEDED BY ABOUT 700 PM OR 800 PM
ACROSS SOUTHWEST ILLINOIS AND SOUTHEAST MISSOURI...AND LATER THIS
EVENING OVER SOUTHWEST INDIANA AND WESTERN KENTUCKY.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 6, 7:55 PM CST, 37 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
855 PM CDT TUE MAY 06 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0859 PM    SEDGEWICKVILLE            MO   FUNNEL CLOUD
05/06/03   BOLLINGER                      REPORTED BY EOC

Local storm report, May 6, 7:59 PM CST, 33 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
859 PM CDT TUE MAY 06 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0900 PM    FRUITLAND                 MO   1.00 INCH HAIL
05/06/03   CAPE GIRARDEAU                 REPORTED BY TRAINED
                                          SPOTTER

Local storm report, May 6, 8:00 PM CST, 32 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
900 PM CDT TUE MAY 06 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0900 PM    PERRYVILLE                MO   80 MPH WIND GUST
05/06/03   PERRY                          REPORTED BY TRAINED
                                          SPOTTER

0857 PM    MILLER CITY               IL   TORNADO
05/06/03   ALEXANDER                      REPORTED BY POLICE

Local storm report, May 6, 8:06 PM CST, 26 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
906 PM CDT TUE MAY 06 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0857 PM    5NW CAPE GIRARDEAU        MO   TORNADO
05/06/03   CAPE GIRARDEAU                 REPORTED BY TRAINED
                                          SPOTTER ROPE TYPE TORNADO
                                          THAT WAS SPOTTED

Local storm report, May 6, 8:07 PM CST, 25 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
907 PM CDT TUE MAY 06 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0905 PM    TAMMS                     IL   FUNNEL CLOUD
05/06/03   ALEXANDER                      REPORTED BY POLICE

0910 PM    2W TAMMS                  IL   FUNNEL CLOUD
05/06/03   ALEXANDER                      REPORTED BY POLICE THE
                                          EXACT LOCATION WAS 5
                                          MILES NORTH OR OLIVE
                                          BRANCH AND 2 MILES WEST
                                          OF TAMMS

Local storm report, May 6, 8:25 PM CST, 7 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PADUCAH KY
925 PM CDT TUE MAY 06 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0923 PM    CYPRESS                   IL   0.75 INCH HAIL
05/06/03   JOHNSON                        REPORTED BY EOC

The radar

The Paducah radar (KPAH), 155 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 02:31 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 hail, 2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Hail, Wayne

When: May 6, 8:32 PM CST to 8:40 PM CST
Where: Wayne County, Silva
Measured: 0.88 in hail
Reported by: TRAINED SPOTTER
Coordinates: 37.167, -90.517

Hail, Bollinger

When: May 6, 8:47 PM CST
Where: Bollinger County, Castor
Measured: 1 in hail
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 37.300, -90.217

Tornado, Scott

When: May 6, 9:22 PM CST to 9:33 PM CST
Where: Scott County, 3 mi N of Benton
Rating: F1
Path length: 5 mi
Path width: 200 yd
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 37.150, -89.567

The tornado began just west of Interstate 55 and moved southeast, ending as it crossed County Road 333. A vehicle was blown around on the interstate, and there was minor damage to homes. Numerous large trees were blown down. Maximum winds were estimated around 90 MPH.

Tornado, Mississippi

When: May 6, 9:34 PM CST to 9:41 PM CST
Where: Mississippi County, 12 mi NNW of Wyatt
Rating: F2
Path length: 7 mi
Path width: 100 yd
Reported by: NWS STORM SURVEY
Coordinates: 37.083, -89.300

This tornado formed on the Illinois side of the Mississippi River, crossed the river into Missouri at the Interstate 57 bridge, then crossed the river into Kentucky. On the Interstate 57 bridge over the Mississippi River, three 18-wheelers were flipped over, closing the bridge for several hours. The Missouri portion of the track was mainly across undeveloped river bottomland, used mainly for planting crops.

What these are

Hail: Hail three-quarters of an inch or larger, or smaller hail that caused damage, filed with the largest stone measured.
Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Missouri in 2003 Every state in 2003 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Missouri, 2003 Warnings in Missouri, May 2003

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5351945, 5351946, 5352323, 5352324.