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F3 tornado in Lawrence County, Tennessee

Tornado June 26, 1994 · Lawrence County, Tennessee

F3
Rating
35.0 mi
Path length
880 yd
Path width
19
Injuries
$5.0M
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

The tornado first touched down near the town of Lutts in Wayne County and continued southeast into Lawrence. The tornado hit the towns of Iron City and St. Joseph before moving into Lauderdale County, Alabama. Several homes were damaged in Wayne County but the most significant damage occurred in Lawrence County. About 75% of the buildings in Iron City were damaged. Over 100 buildings were damaged in both St. Joseph and Iron City. Some cars were twisted and numerous trees were blown down. Nineteen persons were injured, most of them in Iron City.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 10348727. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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