Tornadoes · United States · Missouri

2003 tornadoes in Missouri

80 tornadoes touched down in Missouri in 2003, 129 percent above the average of the record for the state. They killed 16 people and injured 146. 1 were rated F4 or EF4 and above.

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 Missouri in 2003

April 30 6 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
April 307:04 PM CDTF0Harrison2.050
April 307:15 PM CDTF0Platte1.050
April 307:22 PM CDTF0Harrison10.0100$3,000
April 307:35 PM CDTF0Platte0.225
April 308:55 PM CDTF0Putnam2.050
April 309:53 PM CDTF0Schuyler6.0300

May 4 24 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 44:45 PM CDTF4Clay5.020013$31 million
May 44:59 PM CDTF2Clay8.5300$60 million
May 45:31 PM CDTF3Barton86.0880547$53 million
May 46:04 PM CDTF2Cass22.0100$200,000
May 46:10 PM CDTF0Vernon0.220
May 46:30 PM CDTF0Jasper0.220
May 46:50 PM CDTF3Newton49.0880748$48 million
May 46:55 PM CDTF1Dade0.225$10,000
May 46:58 PM CDTF1Johnson10.075$30,000
May 47:35 PM CDTF0Pettis0.550$10,000
May 47:36 PM CDTF3Camden14.0400427$5.0 million
May 47:50 PM CDTF0Dunklin3.0200$10,000
May 47:50 PM CDTF0Pemiscot6.0440$1,000
May 48:20 PM CDTF0Webster0.220
May 48:30 PM CDTF0Miller0.220
May 48:35 PM CDTF0Cedar0.220
May 48:53 PM CDTF2Scott11.5130$70,000
May 48:55 PM CDTF0Polk0.220
May 49:05 PM CDTF0Maries0.220
May 49:13 PM CDTF0Dallas0.220
May 49:30 PM CDTF0Camden0.220
May 49:55 PM CDTF0Pulaski0.220
May 410:30 PM CDTF0Phelps0.230
May 411:00 PM CDTF0Dent0.220

May 5 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 510:50 PM CDTF0Ozark0.220

May 6 27 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 69:20 AM CDTF0Vernon0.220
May 610:10 AM CDTF0St. Clair0.220
May 62:48 PM CDTF0Pettis22.0502$120,000
May 64:20 PM CDTF0Benton0.225
May 64:25 PM CDTF0St. Clair0.220
May 64:27 PM CDTF0Morgan13.0100
May 64:28 PM CDTF0Morgan15.0100
May 64:35 PM CDTF0Camden0.220
May 64:35 PM CDTF0Hickory0.220
May 64:40 PM CDTF0Benton0.225
May 64:50 PM CDTF0Miller0.220
May 65:55 PM CDTF1Pulaski1.0100$500,000
May 66:13 PM CDTF0Phelps0.220
May 66:32 PM CDTF1Franklin1.080
May 66:40 PM CDTF0Dade0.220
May 66:54 PM CDTF0Polk0.220
May 66:55 PM CDTF1Camden0.225$10,000
May 67:15 PM CDTF0Dallas0.225
May 67:25 PM CDTF0Jefferson0.150
May 67:30 PM CDTF0Jefferson0.250
May 67:35 PM CDTF0Laclede0.220
May 68:04 PM CDTF2Bollinger0.8100$40,000
May 68:18 PM CDTF0Bollinger0.350
May 68:31 PM CDTF1Cape Girardeau1.050
May 68:45 PM CDTF3Cape Girardeau2.0502$12 million
May 69:11 PM CDTF1Cape Girardeau3.050
May 610:22 PM CDTF1Scott5.0200

May 8 3 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 811:40 AM CDTF0Pemiscot1.075$10,000
May 89:21 PM CDTF0Henry3.050
May 810:00 PM CDTF0Johnson0.550

May 9 5 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 99:25 PM CDTF1Cass3.0501$1.0 million
May 99:44 PM CDTF0Cass0.225
May 910:15 PM CDTF2Lafayette10.0300$500,000
May 910:35 PM CDTF0Saline0.225
May 910:52 PM CDTF0Johnson1.050$1,000

May 10 12 tornadoes

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 104:02 PM CDTF0Linn0.525
May 104:38 PM CDTF0Mercer0.125$1,000
May 104:56 PM CDTF1Putnam7.0100$20,000
May 105:23 PM CDTF0Macon5.550$1,000
May 105:33 PM CDTF2Knox22.1200$500,000
May 105:35 PM CDTF0Putnam0.550$1,000
May 105:50 PM CDTF0Shelby5.050
May 106:08 PM CDTF2Lewis20.02006$5.0 million
May 106:10 PM CDTF0Lewis4.050
May 106:19 PM CDTF0Monroe0.240
May 106:30 PM CDTF0Marion2.550
May 106:37 PM CDTF3Marion12.0200

June 12 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
June 124:25 PM CDTF0Ray1.050$30,000

September 26 1 tornado

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
September 267:15 PM CDTF0Franklin0.250

Crossed into Missouri

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

DateTimeRatingWherePath (mi)Width (yd)DeathsInjuriesDamage
May 43:54 PM CDTF1Leavenworth, KS to MO3.050$1.9 million
May 44:18 PM CDTF4Wyandotte, KS to MO21.0500230$48 million
May 44:35 PM CDTF4Crawford, KS to MO33.0880430$20 million
May 45:06 PM CDTF1Miami, KS to MO9.0150
May 45:45 PM CDTF3Cherokee, KS to MO25.0880534$24 million
May 610:27 PM CDTF2Alexander, IL to MO, KY25.04001$300,000

Nearby

Every tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in MissouriThe live radar over Missouri

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.