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F3 tornado in Cherokee County, Alabama

Tornado February 21, 1993 · Cherokee County, Alabama

F3
Rating
19.0 mi
Path length
100 yd
Path width
5
Injuries
$500K
Damage as recorded
What F3 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F3 meant severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned; the scale paired it with winds of 158–206 mph, figures later judged too high, especially toward the top of the scale, and revised downward in the Enhanced Fujita scale. Ratings then, as now, came from the damage.

What the National Weather Service wrote

A tornado moved west to east through a 19-mile-path in southern Cherokee County. The tornado first touched down in the Gnatville Community around 1800 CST, about 3 miles southeast of Pine Grove, then moved east. The tornado crossed a road then moved through the Spring Garden Community, then through the Tecumseh area to the Alabama line. Five injuries occurred in mobile homes. Thirteen mobile homes and two houses were completely destroyed. One mobile home and four houses had major damage. One mobile home and ten homes received minor damage. Damage was estimated at approximately $400,000.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 10314703. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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