[25] The day's severe weather was largely driven by a powerful mid-tropospheric disturbance moving northeast across the central and northern Great Plains in tandem with an unusually strong area of low pressure over northeastern Kansas. STOCKTON, Calif. (KION-TV)-- Tornado warnings have been issued for multiple areas east of Stockton. [37] Tornadoes developed over Arkansas during the afternoon and evening of May4, including two tornadoes with 35-mile (56km) and 42-mile (68km) path lengths. Stockton Tornado Photos, 4 May 2003. It details our experiences with not believing it would really be a tornado, to taking shelter and actually sheltering a family who ran in off the street, to the aftermath of losing our two businesses and our entire town. The storm continued to down power lines and cause tree damage until it reached the intersection of Highway Z and County Road 825. [3][26] These weather features were also positioned beneath a negatively-tilted trough and an anomalously robust portion of a jet stream. Two fatalities occurred in downtown Stockton. Hall as the coordinator for federal relief efforts in response to the tornadoes. $65 each including shipping in the US. [254] Minor damage was inflicted to the roofs of hundreds of homes. Tornado Destroys Stockton, Mo., Downtown JIM SUHR May 6, 2003 STOCKTON, Mo. During the organizing stage of the life cycle of the tornado, which lasted approximately two minutes, the condensation funnel had a "ragged" appearance. STOCKTON (CBS13) A tornado warning issued Thursday evening that impacted parts of Calaveras, San Joaquin, Stanislaus and Amador counties has expired. Northern and northeastern areas of the Greater Birmingham area of Alabama experienced up to 11in (280mm) of rainfall from several storms over the course of a few hours on May7, resulting in historic flooding. One of the hardest hit communities was Stockton, Mo. See the historic weather events in Lawrence County, Mo. Of the watches, 25 were classified as Particularly Dangerous Situations, a type of watch reserved for the most life-threatening events. [87][88][89] Additional storms continued to develop farther west over the same states as the surrounding air mass remained unstable with CAPE values between 15002000J/kg. According to records, the largest tornado in the Stockton area was an F3 in 1982 that caused 1 injuries and 0 deaths. Debris from many of the homes and outbuildings was located over one half mile to a mile away. FAA Center Weather Survivors recall deadly May 4, 2003 tornado The first of these tornadoes touched down in southern Leavenworth County just before 4 p.m. north of Linwood and south of the Kansas Turnpike, near. destructive and deadly tornadoes. This nearly unbroken tornado track was about 45 miles long from extreme eastern Newton County east of Ritchey west of Pierce City to just northeast of Battlefield in Greene county. [238], Rains in southeastern Tennessee beginning on April30 saturated surfaces and elevated river levels, amplifying a period of heavy precipitation beginning on May5 that featured repeated passages of thunderstorms over the same areas. The Stockton tornado occurred in an isolated thunderstorm that developed over Rooks County, Kansas at around 19:20 CDT. An intense upper level jet stream streaked across the southern Plains while a strong upper level disturbance lifted northeast from the central Rockies into central Plains. An area of low pressure centered south of Hastings, Nebraska, was intensifying amid strengthening winds aloft. May 4th, 2003 Tornado Outbreak By andyhb, May 4, 2013 in Central/Western States andyhb Meteorologist 17.9k Location: Norman, OK Posted May 4, 2013 Today is the tenth anniversary of one of the most significant tornado events of the 2000s and the most significant event of the record breaking May, 2003 outbreak sequence. [93] Thunderstorms sustained over the area into the evening before the surrounding airmass stabilized, resulting in a weakening of the storms by midnight. This summary is for the tornado that moved from northeast Barton County across Cedar and Polk Counties into Dallas County, including the City of Stockton. May 2, 2022, 2:29 AM A powerful tornado touched down near Fort Stockton, Texas, amid multiple weather warnings on May 1. A drug store was reduced to a single wall, with a few bottles clinging to a stubborn set of shelving. CoCoRaHS EDT). [220] The second tornadothe strongest of the Kansas City tornadoesbegan north-northwest of the Kansas Speedway at 3:54pm. $2,700. The tornado produced F1 damage to some out buildings and uprooted numerous trees as it moved across the northeastern portion of the county. [120] These potent conditions were also present as far south as Central Texas, though the stronger capping inversion farther south meant more widespread severe activity was less likely. Initially, the tornado remained over country but began damaging structures after crossing the Missouri River into Platte County, Missouri near the intersection of Missouri Route 92 and North Farley Road. [167] This weather pattern would lead to the low-pressure system and its associated frontal boundaries moving through an unstable air mass exhibiting wind shear as high as 91kt (105mph, 169km/h), leading to a potentially significant outbreak of severe weather. After passing south of Badger it was rated an F-2 until it reached just west of Smithfield where it was rated as an F-3 through the community of Smithville and just north of Stringtown until it reached the west portion of Carl Junction. The tornado tracked east northeast, heavily damaging more than a dozen additional homes. The tornado continued into the northeastern portions of Wyandotte County where the twister produced a second region of low-end F4damage near 79th Street and Cernech Road. In several areas along the tornado path, some trees were stripped of all bark. 3. [19], A second large complex of thunderstorms persisted over Middle Tennessee, northern Mississippi, and northern Alabama during the pre-dawn hours, with the unstable atmosphere and high wind shear creating an attendant risk for supercells, tornadoes, and heavy rain. The May 2003 tornado outbreak sequence in the United States was a series of tornado outbreaks that occurred from May 3 to May 11, 2003. [237] During the following five days, over 9in (230mm) of rain would fall across the watersheds of the Little Tennessee and Hiwassee rivers, including more than 12in (300mm) of rainfall reported over a 35-hour span in McMinn County. ``Its going to take a quite a while to recover from the economic and emotional loss. "I'm not sure where the roof landed," said Doug Marrs, a bank vice president who was helping ensure that no confidential papers of the branch's clients were out in the open. [26] The SPC expected that both the warm front and the dry line would serve as a focus for storm development as the storm system evolved. St James's, England, United Kingdom 36 F Clear. [52] Some thunderstorms formed in tandem with a lake breeze from Lake Michigan and then moved along a warm front, producing hail, damaging winds, and several funnel clouds, particularly near the front where wind shear was maximized. [262] In West Virginia, storms along and south of a warm front produced severe weather and flooding rains, particularly in the Little Kanawha River watershed. StormReady [60][61] A line of severe thunderstorms with a bow echo apparent on weather radar moved east across northern Georgia and the Carolinas during this period;[62] two F1tornadoes and an F0tornado were confirmed over central South Carolina. [243] Due in part to the heavy rains between May48, May2003 was the wettest month for Huntsville since 1983. [200] Unlike in previous days, the day also featured a strong cold front that swept across the U.S., displacing the moist and unstable air mass that had remained over the central and eastern U.S.[2] After May11, the development of a ridge of high pressure over the Rocky Mountainsas opposed to the persistence of low pressure over the western U.S. in previous daysprecipitated the end of the period of severe weather that began on May3. Probably the most overall concentrated damage was to the community of Smithville and Carl Junction. The strongest of the ten tornadoes was an F3tornado that hit parts of northeastern Oklahoma City, triggering a tornado emergency and marking the second consecutive day that tornadoes impacted the Oklahoma City area; this tornado was also the strongest tornado of the day. [134][135] At 01:00UTC (8:00p.m. CDT), the SPC noted that tornadic supercells and conditions conducive to severe weather remained present, though the main risk area shifted east towards the central Mississippi River valley. [19] These storms continued to move east through an unstable environment, with a nearby outflow boundary producing enhanced vorticity supportive of tornado development;[86] crossing several states, the storms reached the Atlanta, Georgia, area by around 1535UTC (11:35a.m. One things for sure _ a lot of people wont ever forget this., Connect with the definitive source for global and local news. We've connected loving homes to reputable breeders since 2003 and we want to help you find the puppy your whole family will love. [19], Temperatures along a front in Oklahoma had risen to near 80F (27C) by 15:00UTC (10:00a.m. CDT), producing a highly unstable atmosphere marked by CAPE values ranging between 30004000J/kg and lapse rates of around 8.5 C/km. "It's like: where do you start, what do you do?". The tornado continued producing "high end F4" damage to homes as it passed the town of Mulberry, where a train was derailed from the winds of the storm, and crossed into Barton County, Missouri. CDT). It destroyed businesses and homes on that Sunday. However, these storms also caused the capping inversion to gradually diminish;[128][129] the emergent storms became more sustained after 20:00UTC (3:00p.m. Although a capping inversion remained in place, forcing for the uplift of air was expected to be sufficient to overcome the temperature inversion; the SPC indicated that the atmospheric conditions would lead to any emergent storm rapidly organizing into a supercell. A strong tornado struck Canton, MO during the early evening hours on May 10, 2003. Four people were killed along this tornado track. Valid Until: February 20, 2023, 10:00 am. Numerous reports of funnel clouds were reported by National Weather Service trained spotters and Chaser as the supercell moved east across McDonald and Newton Counties before the tornado touched down about three miles east of Ritchey and west of Pierce City. This tornado track extended west into Labette County north of Chetopa but that portion of the survey was completed by the Wichita, Kansas, National Weather Service Office. However, several large trees right next the house and in back were uprooted or snapped off indicating the power of the tornado. [218][219] North of Route92, major damage to two barns and nearby damage to trees and fences was assessed by survey crews to have been caused by downburst winds from the parent thunderstorm. Meteorological elements to produce a major severe weather event were in place and included a very moist and unstable airmass, strong lift and strong wind shear. The issuance of such watches resulted in an average lead-time of 2hours and 3minutes for fatal tornadoes. As it passed Ringo and entered the unincorporated town of Franklin (5 miles (8km) north of Frontenac), the path reached over .mw-parser-output .frac{white-space:nowrap}.mw-parser-output .frac .num,.mw-parser-output .frac .den{font-size:80%;line-height:0;vertical-align:super}.mw-parser-output .frac .den{vertical-align:sub}.mw-parser-output .sr-only{border:0;clip:rect(0,0,0,0);height:1px;margin:-1px;overflow:hidden;padding:0;position:absolute;width:1px}12 mile (0.8km) wide at points. [35] The diminishing of the capping inversion along the dry line that had prevented storm development earlier in the day led the SPC to issue a tornado watch at 20:00UTC (3:00p.m. CDT) for south-central and southeastern Oklahoma and north-central and northeast Texas. This statement will focus on the Newton, Lawrence, Christian and southern Greene county track. Georg. NOAA Weather Radio [21], May4 was the most active day of the tornado outbreak sequence: the SPC received 94tornado reports, though surveys and reanalyses confirmed 79tornadoes. Other significant damage was observed on Spencer Creek Road and off High Point Road. After the storm that officials say killed three people, no one is envying the task of starting all over _ again. [57] The SPC no longer depicted a high risk of severe weather in their 01:00UTC (8:00p.m. CDT) convective outlook, showing at most a moderate risk for severe weather for northern Mississippi and surrounding areas. [149] Preliminarily, the eight tornadoes initially reported in Virginia were tied for the second most ever recorded in the state within a 24-hour period period. Drought [63] Among these was a high-precipitation supercell that developed near the warm front in northern Alabama and produced several tornadoes. [229] As it moved northeast across Barton County, it uprooted numerous trees and produced F1 damage to outbuildings. 2010-1-23 - F1 Tornado: 26.1 mi. First, a high end F-4 (207 - 260 MPH) struck the communities of Ringo and Franklin in eastern Crawford County, and continued to just northwest of Liberal, MO. [215] The most severe damage covered a swath that included eastern parts of the college campus and areas along Excelsior Springs Road,[224] with the overall damage cost totaling $60million. According to records, the largest tornado in the Stockton area was an F2 in 1953 that caused 0 injuries and 0 deaths. Skywarn Spotter, Other Programs [46] The principal weather features on May5 included a longwave trough centered over the western U.S., a powerful upper-tropospheric trough over the Mississippi Valley, and a cyclone over Iowa tracking northeastwards towards Wisconsin, with the most significant weather expected to coincide with an area of steep lapse rates. NWS [225], In Pierce City, Missouri, two people were killed following the collapse of a National Guard Armory. [19][126] A smaller area of low pressure forming along the dry line near the Lawton, Oklahoma, area produced conditions locally supportive of tornadogenesis. [200][211] There were only two weak tornadoes on May11 in connection with the storms that passed through this region: an F0tornado Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, and an F1tornado in Wayne County, New York. Lows in the mid 20s. The atmospheric environment in the region had become favorable for severe weather sooner than anticipated with CAPE values reaching above 4500J/kg and wind shear ranging between 4050kt (4560mph, 7595km/h). Table A list of all F1 or larger tornados that touched down near Stockton, California over the last 75 years. A large tornado touched down near Fort Stockton, in west Texas, amid multiple severe weather warnings on Sunday, May 1. Weather Radar Loop for Stockton, CA 95210 Current National Watches & Warnings Today's Preliminary Severe Weather Reports (since 6 a.m. CST ; click on map for text listing of reports) SELECT BOX EXAMPLES: [131] A total of 21tornadoes touched down in Kansas during the day, of which 5 were significant tornadoes with the strongest rated F3. [279] One person was killed on May9 after attempting to traverse a low-water crossing in Monroe County. [2] The pattern finally ceased on May1112 with the active pattern shifting to New England the formation of a ridge over the Rocky Mountains. Now, the initial shock for some in the town formerly known as Lancaster and Fremont before going with Stockton in 1859 in honor of a military man has turned to resolve. "The word devastation doesn't do it justice. Here the tornado caused some roof damage to one home for an F-1 rating at this point. The agency highlighted a Moderate Risk of severe weather across parts of the Mid-Atlantic states, with damaging winds constituting the primary severe weather threat. ", Several assaults, thefts reported in latest crime activity. [143][144], By around 17UTC (1p.m. EDT), some of the storms had congealed into a mesoscale convective system and were beginning to take a more southward trajectory into West Virginia and Virginia. [19][35] The persistence of warm and moist air with the aid of daytime heating maintained the severe weather potential into the afternoon for the same areas. Came out of a very clean ( always garaged ) FJ60. CDT). Wind Gusts 12 mph. [91][92] Fifteen tornadoes, all rated F0 or F1, touched down in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, between 171UTC (128p.m. CDT);[19] most of the day's tornado reports occurred in these states. Im surprised more people were not injured or killed.. Another generator had sewer operations functioning again, and at least some electricity service was expected by Tuesday night. From there, the tornado entered the town of Stockton and passed just to the north of the county courthouse through the city park. [136] The final tornado of the day was an F0tornado in that lifted at 03:04UTC (10:04p.m. CDT) in Johnson County, Missouri. In Missouri, the twister demolished several farm houses, killing an 88-year-old man. FORT STOCKTON, Texas (KMID/KPEJ)- May storms blew through West Texas Sunday night leaving extensive damage behind in some areas. [129] By the evening hours, a broken line of intense supercell thunderstorms were advancing east across eastern Kansas and Oklahoma within a moderately to highly unstable airmass as the pressure of the nearby cyclone deepened to 993mbar (hPa; 29.32inHg). of Tornados in Stockton, MO 2 [35] Clearing skies were expected to allow CAPE values to rise unstable levels of around 30004000J/kg, and, when combined with strong southwesterly winds aloft, were forecast to produce an environment conducive to the development of supercell thunderstorms. The cause of these successive troughs is unknown, but they proved a key factor in the prolonged nature of the outbreak. [212][213] Five tornadoes occurred in the northland suburbs of Kansas City, of which four were caused by a single supercell; the strongest of these was classified as an F4. A tornado outbreak swept through Southwest Missouri on May 4, 2003, killing 25 people and destroying several towns. Monthly Climate Summary The tornado path remained unbroken through northeast Polk County. [174][175] Isolated supercells later developed in the morning over central Illinois and western Indiana, aided by strong winds in the mid-levels of the troposphere and strong wind shear in the lower-levels of the troposphere. Throughout this period, no cold fronts propagated south from Canada; the lack of these allowed the atmosphere to continually destabilize and fuel further thunderstorms. Flooding along Saunders Fork Creek in Cannon County resulted in the deaths of three people in two vehicles. As severe weather shifted east across the country, another trough would cross from the Pacific to the Central United States and reignite activity. ``This is just total devastation, said Mike Conyers of the Missouri Public Utility Alliance, an association of the states municipal electric utilities. A Great Southern bank branch was left roofless. [3] The persistence of 70kt (80mph, 130km/h) winds in the mid-levels of the troposphereresulting in strong wind shearled to a maintained risk for tornadoes along an outflow boundary near the Tennessee Valley and along a warm front draped over Georgia and the Carolinas during the early morning hours of May6. on May 4, 2003, National Park Service says never push a slower friend down when escaping a bear, Springfield police ask for help to identify suspects after SUV hit a gas pump, Insect found outside Arkansas Walmart identified as Jurassic-era insect. [228] Downed power lines forced the closure of roads leading to Republic, Missouri. [3], Throughout the nine-day outbreak, 363 tornadoes touched down across the United States. -- Numerous severe thunderstorms sweeping through western Texas Sunday evening brought a few damaging tornadoes and large hail. The tornado track extended west across Neosho County Kansas but we picked up the track (by air) beginning about four miles west of South Mound in Neosho County. [20] The strongest tornado of the day was an F2tornado that touched down near Lake Stamford in Texas at around 00:10UTC (7:00p.m. CDT). Just after 5:00pm, a new tornado touched down on the west side of Moore west of Interstate 35 and moved east northeast across the city; the tornado proceeded to cause damage across southeastern sections of Oklahoma City, including Tinker Air Force Base near Interstate 40, and also near Midwest City and Choctaw. Weather Disasters Summary, Tornado Outbreak Day Sequences: Historic Events and Climatology (18752003), Memphis National Weather Service Perspective of the Severe Weather Outbreak of May 2003 Focus on the F4 Madison County, Tennessee Tornado, OK-FIRST Case Study: The Tornado Outbreaks of May 2003, NOAA: Cold Front Spawns Super-Cell Storms, Deadly Tornadoes in Central Plains States, Studies of the May 2003 tornado outbreaks, National Weather Service storm survey results for April 30, 2003, Tornadoes Rip Across Southeast Kansas and the Missouri Ozarks May 4th 2003, Summary of the May 45, 2003 Middle Tennessee Tornadoes, Cold Front Spawns Supercell Storms, Deadly Tornadoes in Central Plains States, Kansas City, KS May 4, 2003 "The 5-4-3 Tornado Outbreak", Storm Survey Results for the May 10, 2003 Event, Summary of the May 11, 2003 Middle Tennessee Tornadoes, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tornado_outbreak_sequence_of_May_2003&oldid=1136143347, 2003 natural disasters in the United States, Pages containing links to subscription-only content, Short description with empty Wikidata description, Pages using infobox storm with notes parameter, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2021, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, 42deaths (+9non-tornadic deaths), 652injuries (+52non-tornadic injuries), This page was last edited on 28 January 2023, at 23:21. [141] Severe weather was also forecast for the Mid-Atlantic region and the Ohio Valley. $1,500. *Tornado risk is calculated from the destruction path that has occured within 30 miles of the location. [147][148][149] They reached the Outer Banks before 2UTC (9p.m. EDT) and eventually weakened as the surrounding air within the planetary boundary layer became more stable. [283] Behind one line of storms, the development of a low-pressure area in their wake produced a swath of 50mph (80km/h) winds across eastern Iowa and northern Illinois, doing at least $2million in damage. [259] The same storms persisted into southern Maryland, downing trees in the La Plata area and St. Mary's County. There were numerous injuries. Some have Links to pictures of the cemetery and headstones. Aerial damage surveys indicate an increase in width and intensification as the tornado approached the community of Ringo (5 miles (8km) east of Girard), in Crawford County. A rare California tornado warning was issued Thursday in parts of the Central Valley. CDT). GIS Forecast Maps area. Indoor Humidity 33% (Slightly Dry) Dew Point 38 F. Air Quality Excellent. [178][179] This favorable environment for rising air continued to spread east in tandem with a shortwave trough tracking across the Ohio Valley, extending conducive conditions for thunderstorm development eastward to Virginia and North Carolina in the early afternoon. Weather Ready Nation Ambassadors [35], Conditions within the preexisting risk areas remained favorable for tornadoes into the evening while the tornadic risk increased farther east, prompting the SPC to issue a tornado watch for new areas of Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, and Tennessee at 23:55UTC (6:55p.m. "It can be rebuilt," said Hafer. However, the debris path ranged from one quarter mile to one mile. . CDT). [19] The complex of storms also enhanced the advection of warm air downrange farther east, bolstering the development of thunderstorms farther east by destabilizing the local air mass. [118][122] A third tornado watch was issued for northern Kansas and southern Nebraska at 18:50UTC (1:50p.m. CDT) and the air mass overhead became increasingly unstable with CAPE values over 3000J/kg ahead of a developing low-pressure area in the vicinity of Russell, Kansas. With soils saturated from prior rains, the prolonged precipitation period produced seasonally anomalous runoff that flowed into creeks and rivers, resulting in rapid rises of streams and associated rivers, including Chickamauga Creek, Conasauga River, Chattahoochee River, Flint River, and Sweetwater Creek.