F3 tornado, Ritchey to Battlefield, Missouri, May 4, 2003

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 mphthis tornado

   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.

Rating

F3

Date

May 4, 2003

Touchdown

6:50 PM CDT (23:50 UTC)

Path length

49.0 miles (78.8 km)

Path width

880 yards (805 m)

Deaths

7

Injuries

48

Property damage

$48 million

Counties

Newton, Lawrence, Greene and Christian counties

Touchdown point

36.920, -94.200

Lift-off point

37.130, -93.370

Record number

243

A seven mile long path of rural east central Newton County was affected from the initial stages of a large tornado. Three homes and outbuildings were destroyed while five more were damaged causing approximately one half million dollars in monetary loss. This tornado then tracked through Lawrence, Christian, and southwestern Greene counties.

This tornado is a continuation of the Newton County tornado. A large tornado laid out a half mile wide path of destruction across southwest, central, and east central Lawrence County. Several communities was affected, however, the community of Pierce City was hardest hit as the historic downtown of 100 plus year old buildings were completely destroyed. Around 229 homes, buisnesses, and outbuildings were destroyed while 320 were damaged. The tornado also claimed the lives of five local residents and injured 33. The tornado continued on the ground into the Christian County panhandle. Dale Taunton age 52, was taking cover inside a National Guard armory tornado shelter, but was not in the basement. He was deceased from being struck by debris and bricks.Wanda Sue Handly age 46, was in her mobile home north of Monett while the tornado approached. She was deceased from being tossed from trailer and hit by flying debris.Jacob Aldaba Rueda age 20 weeks, was blown from his mother's arms when the tornado struck their mobile home. He was deceased from being thrown one quarter of a mile from his location. Janet Eskridge age 52, was in her modular home when the tornado struck. She was deceased from being tossed several yards from her home.Vicki Lynn Lawrence age 39, was deceased from being hit by flying debris while her mobile home was being destroyed from the tornado.

This tornado is a continuation of the Lawrence County tornado that laid a half mile wide path of destruction across the Christian County panhandle. Populated areas between the communities of Billings and Clever were affected that resulted in one fatality and three injuries. 27 structures were destroyed while 150 were damaged that added up to around 5.1 million dollars of monetary losses. The tornado continued on the ground into southwestern Greene County.Ruth Little age 63, was taking cover in her frame home with her husband and daughter. As the tornado struck, she was thrown about 50 yards from her location and was deceased from injury. Her husband and daughter survived the event.

This tornado is a continuation of the Christian County tornado that entered southwestern Greene County and laid down a path of destruction into the city of Battlefield. 100 homes and outbuildings were destroyed while another 150 were damaged causing estimated monetary losses of 14.7 million dollars. The tornado also claimed the life of one local resident and injured 12.Stephanie Allton age 40, was outdoors caring for her pets before taking shelter while the tornado approached. She was then deceased from being struck by a falling oak tree.

The deaths

7 direct deaths are recorded for this tornado, each with what Storm Data knows of it.

From NOAA NCEI's Storm Events Database, the narrative the local forecast office wrote for Storm Data.

51 minutes of warning. NWS SGF issued a tornado warning for this county at 22:59 UTC, 51 minutes before the tornado touched down, in force until 00:00 UTC.

Every warning and watch covering the touchdown point that day, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service products. Lead time is measured from the issue of the warning in force to the touchdown time in the database, both of which were recorded to the minute by different people.

The Storm Prediction Center had this point in a High Risk, with a 0.25 chance of a tornado within 25 miles, in the hatched area where significant tornadoes were expected. The outlook in force was issued at 20:19 UTC.

SPC's Day 1 convective outlook as it stood when the tornado began, read at the touchdown point. The same archive is on the radar archive.

The radiosonde launches on either side of the tornado, from the nearest station that was launching then, drawn and analyzed the way Storm Lab does: the same diagram, the same parcel and shear definitions SPC's mesoanalysis uses.

Springfield (SGF), 42 km from the path, in the two hours either side.

From the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of airport observations.

The Springfield radar (KSGF), 41 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the touchdown began at 23:52 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment, over the track

Reflectivity and velocity, decoded from the Level II archive in the browser. Volumes take a few seconds to open the first time.

The live radar over the trackEvery 2003 tornado in MissouriEvery tornado in Missouri since 1950Warnings in force in Missouri nowThe forecast where you are

80 more were confirmed in the United States that day.

All 81 of them

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.

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