Tornadoes · United States · Kentucky

2003 tornadoes in Kentucky

32 tornadoes touched down in Kentucky in 2003, 96 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 3 people and injured 43.

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.

  1. F040 to 72 mph

    Light damage. Surface peeled off some roofs, gutters and siding damaged, branches broken, shallow-rooted trees pushed over.

  2. F173 to 112 mph

    Moderate damage. Roofs badly stripped, mobile homes overturned or badly damaged, exterior doors lost, windows broken.

  3. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. F4207 to 260 mph

    Devastating damage. Well-built houses leveled, structures with weak foundations moved some distance, cars thrown and large missiles generated.

  6. 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.

  7. 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 Kentucky in 2003

February 22 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
February 224:09 PM ESTF1Breathitt0.57527$300,000

April 20 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 203:39 PM CDTF1Christian0.150$1,000

April 25 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 254:09 PM CDTF1Marshall1.5100$30,000

May 4 9 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 49:43 PM CDTF1Ballard to IL3.9100
May 410:30 PM CDTF2Calloway1.860$350,000
May 410:30 PM CDTF1Crittenden5.530
May 410:32 PM CDTF1Crittenden2.040
May 410:45 PM CDTF2Crittenden0.2251
May 410:53 PM CDTF1Webster0.220
May 410:56 PM CDTF1Webster0.225$350,000
May 410:58 PM CDTF2Webster1.5751$1.0 million
May 411:45 PM CDTF2Daviess0.2252$70,000

May 5 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 55:00 PM EDTF1Pulaski6.0300$500,000

May 6 9 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 611:12 PM CDTF0McCracken2.075
May 611:17 PM CDTF1McCracken3.580
May 611:22 PM CDTF1Graves0.5125
May 611:32 PM CDTF1Graves1.0100
May 611:32 PM CDTF1Hickman22.050
May 611:38 PM CDTF1Marshall2.0100
May 611:50 PM CDTF0Marshall0.580
May 611:52 PM CDTF1Union15.0100$750,000
May 611:55 PM CDTF1Marshall0.580

May 8 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 88:00 PM CDTF0Breckinridge1.050

May 10 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 104:45 PM EDTF3Mason25.020017$5.5 million

May 11 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 111:18 AM CDTF3McLean1.8802$400,000
May 114:10 AM EDTF2Hardin6.51205$1.0 million
May 113:59 AM CDTF1Hart2.050$100,000
May 115:30 AM EDTF2Mercer7.030018$15 million
May 116:55 AM EDTF1Garrard1.075$100,000

June 11 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 117:20 PM CDTF1Marshall0.280$40,000

June 18 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 1811:03 AM EDTF0Bell0.545

August 22 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
August 228:35 PM CDTF0Calloway4.060

Crossed into Kentucky

Tornadoes that touched down in a neighboring state and ran into Kentucky. They are counted under the state they began in.

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 410:09 PM CDTF1Pope, IL to KY2.250
May 410:10 PM CDTF1Livingston, IL to KY9.860$10,000
May 610:27 PM CDTF2Alexander, IL to MO, KY25.04001$300,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Kentucky since 1950Warnings in force in KentuckyThe live radar over Kentucky

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.