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F3 tornado in Stevens County, Kansas

Tornado May 5, 1993 · Stevens County, Kansas

Rating

7.5 mi

Path length

880 yd

Path width

$500K

Damage as recorded

$50K

Crop damage

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 1/2 mile wide F3 tornado move into south-central Stevens County from the Oklahoma Panhandle area. The tornado crossed the Kansas state line at 1908 CST (2008 CDT) 13 miles south southeast of Hugoton. The tornado moved to the north and gradually turned to the northeast prior to roping out. A metal beam garage ten miles south southeast of Hugoton was pushed down on to a tractor and a pickup truck. Four irrigation systems were also destroyed.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 10325613. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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