Tornadoes · United States · Florida

2003 tornadoes in Florida

44 tornadoes touched down in Florida in 2003, 11 percent below the average of the record for the state. They killed 1 people and injured 45.

2002 2004 The whole country in 2003

The rating scale

Tracks are drawn in the color of the rating. The Fujita scale rates the damage rather than measuring the wind: the speeds are what that damage is taken to imply.

F040 to 72 mph
Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.
F173 to 112 mph
Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.
F2113 to 157 mph
Considerable damage. Roofs torn off well-built houses, frame homes shifted on their foundations, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted, cars lifted off the ground.
F3158 to 206 mph
Severe damage. Whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, trees debarked, heavy cars lifted and thrown.
F4207 to 260 mph
Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.
F5261 to 318 mph
Incredible damage. Strong frame houses swept off their foundations, car-sized missiles thrown more than 100 meters, steel-reinforced concrete badly damaged, high-rise buildings deformed.
Unrated
The survey recorded a tornado but could not put a number on it, most often because it crossed open country and damaged nothing a rating can be read from.

Every tornado in Florida in 2003

February 16 3 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
February 16	4:00 AM CST	F1	Bay	0.2	200	$250,000
February 16	4:30 AM CST	F0	Washington	0.2	75	$100,000
February 16	5:37 AM CST	F0	Gulf	0.2	75	$250,000

March 10 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 10	7:44 PM EST	F0	Sarasota	3.0	50			$150,000

March 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 20	2:50 AM CST	F2	Jackson	8.0	300		3	$500,000

March 27 8 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
March 27	2:20 PM EST	F1	Collier	1.0	50			$50,000
March 27	2:30 PM EST	F0	Lee	5.0	40
March 27	3:00 PM EST	F0	Collier	0.5	20
March 27	3:01 PM EST	F1	Hendry	1.0	30
March 27	3:15 PM EST	F0	Palm Beach	0.5	25
March 27	3:30 PM EST	F0	Miami-Dade	0.2	20
March 27	5:15 PM EST	F1	Broward	2.0	300			$80,000
March 27	5:46 PM EST	F2	Miami-Dade	6.0	600	1	14	$8.0 million

April 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
April 18	5:00 PM EDT	F1	Palm Beach	3.0	30

April 25 7 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Damage
April 25	4:55 AM CDT	F0	Okaloosa	0.1	20	$10,000
April 25	5:10 AM CDT	F0	Okaloosa	0.1	20	$10,000
April 25	5:20 AM CDT	F0	Walton	0.2	75	$100,000
April 25	10:05 AM CDT	F0	Gulf	0.2	50	$250,000
April 25	2:40 PM EDT	F0	Alachua	0.1	10
April 25	3:00 PM EDT	F0	Suwannee	1.0	50
April 25	3:05 PM EDT	F0	Alachua	0.1	10

May 19 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 19	6:00 PM EDT	F0	Hardee	0.3	20

May 24 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
May 24	6:50 PM EDT	F0	Polk	0.2	30

June 18 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 18	1:13 PM EDT	F0	Manatee	1.0	40			$20,000

June 19 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 19	2:15 PM EDT	F0	Broward	0.1	10

June 22 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 22	4:15 PM EDT	F0	Marion	1.5	100			$50,000

June 29 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
June 29	6:52 PM EDT	F0	Pasco	0.7	100			$40,000
June 29	11:52 PM EDT	F0	Charlotte	0.7	100			$50,000

July 8 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 8	6:35 PM EDT	F1	Hillsborough	2.2	200			$20,000

July 12 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 12	7:17 AM EDT	F0	Miami-Dade	0.1	10			$10,000

July 15 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
July 15	6:59 PM EDT	F0	Collier	0.2	10

August 3 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 3	2:18 PM EDT	F0	Palm Beach	0.1	10

August 6 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 6	2:20 PM EDT	F0	Brevard	1.0	30

August 7 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 7	5:10 PM EDT	F0	Palm Beach	1.5	70			$50,000
August 7	5:30 PM EDT	F1	Palm Beach	4.0	300		28	$80 million

August 12 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 12	7:15 AM EDT	F0	Miami-Dade	0.2	15			$10,000
August 12	5:50 PM EDT	F0	Leon	3.0	50			$1,000

August 20 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
August 20	9:00 AM EDT	F0	Palm Beach	0.4	15

September 5 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
September 5	1:00 PM EDT	F0	Miami-Dade	1.0	20

October 1 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 1	5:05 PM EDT	F0	Monroe	0.0	20

October 28 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 28	3:30 PM EST	F1	Taylor	6.5	50			$100,000

October 29 2 tornadoes

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
October 29	1:20 AM EST	F0	Collier	0.5	15
October 29	2:45 AM EST	F0	Miami-Dade	0.3	15			$20,000

November 28 1 tornado

Date	Time	Rating	Where	Path (mi)	Width (yd)	Deaths	Injuries	Damage
November 28	3:28 PM EST	F0	Marion	0.2	60			$30,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Florida since 1950 Warnings in force in Florida The live radar over Florida

What this means

Ratings are the survey's, read off the damage rather than measured; the rating scale is above. Tornado counts rise through the record as reporting improved, so a year in the 1950s is not comparable with one today except for the strongest tornadoes, which were always noticed.

Sources

NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database, 1950-2025, the official record kept by NOAA's Storm Prediction Center.