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F3 tornado in McCook County, South Dakota

Tornado May 7, 1993 · McCook County, South Dakota

F3
Rating
10.0 mi
Path length
100 yd
Path width
$5.0M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

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 caused extensive damage in the Canistota area. Four metal grain storage bins were severely damaged and the roof was blown off the grain elevator. A large roof was blown off a building in Canistota resulting in rain seeping through the floors of the building. The roof blew into another building causing damage, and the flying debris took out power lines and transformers. The storm nearly totaled a farm including the house, and destroyed barns on other farms. Buildings were damaged in Montrose and a farm and metal buildings were lost on a farm east of Montrose.

Began near Canistota To (43.6000, -97.3000).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 10346341. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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