YearFinal SPC data

2003

1,374 tornadoes in 2003, with 13,915 hail and 11,909 wind reports, from the NOAA SPC severe weather database.

Tornado recordHail + windDaily reportsStorm Events narrativesEF ScaleMax path width

Tornado deaths

F0 891 F1 355 F2 93 F3 27 F4 8

Hail and wind show significant reports only (2 in or larger, 65 kt or stronger). Click a legend item to show or hide it, or "only" to see just that. Select anything on the map to open its record.

Tornadoes by month

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Hail reports by month

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Wind reports by month

JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec

Storm days

Every day with a tornado, hail or wind report. Warmer colors mean more tornadoes; gray days had hail or wind only; a white ring marks a day with an F4/EF4 or stronger tornado.

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Running count

2003 against the years around it and the 1991 to 2020 average

20031991 to 2020 average1998 to 2008 (other years)

1,374 tornadoes in 2003, 12% above the 1991 to 2020 average of 1,231.

Counts by storm day (12Z to 12Z). Reporting changed a great deal over the decades, so years far from 1991 to 2020 are not a like-for-like comparison with the average.

Busiest tornado days

#	Day	Tornadoes	F/EF4+	Deaths	Strongest	States
1	06/24/03	95	1	0	F4	IA, MN, NE, SD, WY
2	05/04/03	86	4	38	F4	AR, IL, KS, KY, MO, MS, NE, OK, SD, TN
3	05/06/03	75	1	2	F4	AL, AR, AZ, GA, IL, KS, KY, LA, MO, MS +5
4	05/10/03	60	0	1	F3	AR, IA, IL, IN, KY, MO, NC, TN, WI
5	05/15/03	49	0	0	F2	CO, KS, NC, OK, TN, TX
6	05/08/03	41	1	0	F4	CO, IL, IN, KS, KY, MO, NE, OK, TN, VA
7	05/16/03	40	0	0	F2	AR, OK, TX
8	05/09/03	33	0	0	F3	IL, IN, KS, MO, NC, OK, VA
9	05/07/03	31	0	0	F2	AL, AR, CO, GA, MD, MS, OK, TX, VA
10	04/24/03	30	0	0	F3	AR, FL, KS, LA, MS
11	11/17/03	30	0	0	F2	LA, MS, NE, TX
12	07/21/03	23	0	0	F3	IN, KS, NE, NY, OH, PA, VT
13	05/05/03	22	0	0	F3	AL, AR, KY, MI, MO, MS, SC, TN
14	06/11/03	22	0	0	F1	IL, IN, KY, NE, SD, TX
15	04/30/03	21	0	0	F1	CO, IA, IL, KS, MO

Busiest severe weather days

tornado, hail and wind reports together

#	Day	All reports	Tornadoes	Hail	Wind	Largest hail	Top gust
1	05/06/03	727	75	422	230	4.5 in	104 kt (120 mph)
2	05/04/03	624	86	409	129	4.5 in	90 kt (104 mph)
3	05/02/03	597	1	360	236	4.5 in	75 kt (86 mph)
4	05/10/03	568	60	277	231	3 in	100 kt (115 mph)
5	06/11/03	559	22	182	355	4.5 in	78 kt (90 mph)
6	05/09/03	527	33	387	107	4.5 in	80 kt (92 mph)
7	04/30/03	480	21	426	33	2.75 in	70 kt (81 mph)
8	07/09/03	468	21	136	311	4.5 in	80 kt (92 mph)
9	07/21/03	467	23	93	351	4 in	100 kt (115 mph)
10	07/07/03	453	4	108	341	4.5 in	91 kt (105 mph)
11	07/04/03	442	3	114	325	2.75 in	90 kt (104 mph)
12	05/15/03	420	49	209	162	2.75 in	80 kt (92 mph)
13	05/01/03	417	13	229	175	4.5 in	78 kt (90 mph)
14	05/08/03	383	41	258	84	4.75 in	90 kt (104 mph)
15	07/20/03	356	17	140	199	3 in	80 kt (92 mph)

Largest hail

top 15

#	Date	Size	Place
1	06/22/03	7 in	Hamilton County, NE
2	05/14/03	5.25 in	Stephens County, OK
3	05/08/03	4.75 in	Mahaska County, IA
4	07/02/03	4.75 in	Wilkin County, MN
5	03/01/03	4.5 in	Bradford County, FL
6	04/05/03	4.5 in	Rockwall County, TX
7	04/06/03	4.5 in	Arkansas County, AR
8	04/19/03	4.5 in	Tillman County, OK
9	04/19/03	4.5 in	Labette County, KS
10	04/25/03	4.5 in	Bibb County, AL
11	04/25/03	4.5 in	Autauga County, AL
12	05/01/03	4.5 in	Hood County, TX
13	05/02/03	4.5 in	Ozark County, MO
14	05/02/03	4.5 in	Cherokee County, AL
15	05/02/03	4.5 in	Calhoun County, AL

Strongest wind gusts

top 15, measured first on ties

#	Date	Gust	mph	Type	Place
1	05/06/03	104 kt	120	Not given	Massac County, IL
2	05/11/03	100 kt	115	Not given	Wayne County, KY
3	05/16/03	100 kt	115	Not given	Poinsett County, AR
4	07/21/03	100 kt	115	Not given	Windsor County, VT
5	06/24/03	97 kt	112	Not given	Barnes County, ND
6	04/23/03	96 kt	110	Not given	Johnson County, TX
7	06/24/03	96 kt	110	Not given	Barnes County, ND
8	06/24/03	96 kt	110	Not given	Barnes County, ND
9	06/24/03	96 kt	110	Not given	Cass County, ND
10	07/02/03	96 kt	110	Not given	Walsh County, ND
11	07/03/03	96 kt	110	Not given	Sargent County, ND
12	07/22/03	95 kt	109	Not given	Shelby County, TN
13	06/23/03	92 kt	106	Not given	Dawson County, NE
14	07/29/03	92 kt	106	Not given	Spink County, SD
15	07/07/03	91 kt	105	Not given	Deuel County, NE

F4/EF4 and stronger

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
05/04/03	F4	Edwardsville, KS to Pleasant Valley, MO	KS, MO	21.0 mi	500 yd	2	30
05/04/03	F4	St. Paul, KS to Liberal, MO	KS, MO	33.0 mi	880 yd	4	30
05/04/03	F4	Pleasant Valley, Missouri	MO	5.0 mi	200 yd	0	13
05/04/03	F4	Brownsville to Lexington, Tennessee	TN	39.0 mi	880 yd	11	86
05/06/03	F4	Dongola to Golconda, Illinois	IL	33.0 mi	1,000 yd	2	33
05/08/03	F4	Moore to Choctaw, Oklahoma	OK	17.3 mi	700 yd	0	134
06/23/03	F4	Coleridge, Nebraska	NE	13.0 mi	1,200 yd	1	0
06/24/03	F4	De Smet, South Dakota	SD	10.0 mi	1,000 yd	0	4

Deadliest tornadoes

Date	Rating	Tornado	State	Length	Width	Deaths	Injuries
05/04/03	F4	Brownsville to Lexington, Tennessee	TN	39.0 mi	880 yd	11	86
05/04/03	F3	Granby to Battlefield, Missouri	MO	49.0 mi	880 yd	7	48
03/20/03	F3	Camilla to Doerun, Georgia	GA	25.0 mi	600 yd	6	200
05/04/03	F3	Liberal to Buffalo, Missouri	MO	86.0 mi	880 yd	5	47
05/04/03	F3	Chetopa, KS to Carl Junction, MO	KS, MO	25.0 mi	880 yd	5	34
05/04/03	F4	St. Paul, KS to Liberal, MO	KS, MO	33.0 mi	880 yd	4	30
05/04/03	F3	Camdenton, Missouri	MO	14.0 mi	400 yd	4	27
02/22/03	F1	Beattyville, Kentucky	KY	0.5 mi	75 yd	2	7
05/04/03	F4	Edwardsville, KS to Pleasant Valley, MO	KS, MO	21.0 mi	500 yd	2	30
05/06/03	F4	Dongola to Golconda, Illinois	IL	33.0 mi	1,000 yd	2	33
03/19/03	F1	Baxter to Algood, Tennessee	TN	12.2 mi	440 yd	1	1
03/27/03	F2	Miami, Florida	FL	6.0 mi	600 yd	1	14
05/11/03	F2	Harrodsburg, Kentucky	KY	7.0 mi	300 yd	1	8
06/22/03	F2	Deshler, Nebraska	NE	3.0 mi	200 yd	1	7
06/23/03	F4	Coleridge, Nebraska	NE	13.0 mi	1,200 yd	1	0

Storm days. A day here runs from 12Z to 12Z (6 a.m. CST to 6 a.m. CST the next morning), the way SPC counts storm days, so an overnight tornado counts with the afternoon and evening before it.
Reporting changed over time. Tornado counts rose from the 1990s on as Doppler radar, spotter networks and cameras caught more weak tornadoes. Counts from different decades are not directly comparable, especially for the weakest ratings.
F and EF ratings. The Enhanced Fujita (EF) Scale replaced the Fujita (F) Scale on 02/01/07. Both estimate wind speed from damage, but they use different damage indicators, so each rating is shown with its own scale.

Titan Archive · a Tornado Titans project Data: NOAA Storm Prediction Center severe weather database · updated 10/03/26