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F3 tornado in Knox County, Tennessee

Tornado February 21, 1993 · Knox County, Tennessee

Rating

10.0 mi

Path length

150 yd

Path width

Injuries

$5.0M

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 150 yards (0.09 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

The tornado started near Oak Ridge, moved through the Bull Run Steam Plant and went through the town of Claxton. Fifty homes were damaged and six mobile homes were destroyed. Two business were destroyed and another 10 were damaged including a weapons plant. Twelve electric transmission towers were knocked down.

Began near Oak Ridge To (36.0200, -84.2500).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 10349640. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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