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EF3 tornado in Kandiyohi County, Minnesota

Tornado July 11, 2008 · Kandiyohi County, Minnesota

EF3

Rating

8.0 mi

Path length

200 yd

Path width

Injuries

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 200 yards (0.11 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What EF3 means. On the Enhanced Fujita scale, EF3 is severe damage: whole stories of well-built houses destroyed, large buildings badly damaged, trains overturned, consistent with estimated gusts of 136–165 mph. The rating comes from a survey of the worst damage after the storm, not from a wind measurement, so it says as much about what the tornado hit as about how strong it was.

What the National Weather Service wrote

Three homes were destroyed and eight others were damaged. Barns and sheds were destroyed, along with two businesses, including two turkey barns. At Highway 71 and County Rd. 19 a small trailer was turned on its side, and several farm tractors were turned on their sides. Two minor injuries occurred at a turkey barn 2.5 miles South of Downtown Willmar.

The wider storm

Instability ahead of a cold front which moved from the Central Dakotas on the morning of the 11th, to the Eastern half of Minnesota by the early evening hours, was the prime ingredient for scattered to numerous severe thunderstorms across the region, during this period.

Began near Priam (45.0735, -95.1445).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

EF0 Meeker County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 129209. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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