The tornado outbreak of May 4, 2003
81 tornadoesMissouri, Tennessee, Kansas and 6 more states
81 tornadoes touched down across 9 states between 2:15 AM and 12:55 AM the next day CDT, 12 of them rated F3 or stronger, and 38 people were killed. The 11th-most tornadoes of any day since 1950.
Watch the day unfoldTornado outbreak · May 4, 2003
How the day unfolded
Every tornado recorded that day, at its logged touchdown time and along its path, with the counties it crossed.
The day in numbers
- Tornadoes
- 81
- 11th of 12,998 tornado days since 1950
- F3 or stronger
- 12
- 4 rated F4 or F5
- Killed
- 38
- 24th-deadliest tornado day since 1950
- Injured
- 346
- Along all the paths
- Path miles
- 691
- All the paths end to end
- First and last
- 2:15 AM to 12:55 AM the next day
- Touchdowns, Central Daylight Time
Hour by hour
Tornadoes touching down in each hour, Central Daylight Time.
Every tornado
In order of touchdown. 7 have a record page, linked from the rating.
By state
Tornadoes in 2003 · On this date in other years · The biggest outbreak days
Storm Prediction Center severe weather database, 1950 to 2025. A day is SPC’s calendar date in Central Standard Time; an outbreak day here has 40 or more tornadoes, or 6 or more rated F3/EF3 or stronger.