F4 tornado — Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota

F4 tornado in Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota

Tornado July 25, 2000 · Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota

Rating

9.0 mi

Path length

167 yd

Path width

Death

Injuries

$20.0M

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 167 yards (0.09 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F4 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F4 meant devastating damage: well-built houses levelled; the scale paired it with winds of 207–260 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 in rural Yellow Medicine County, 8 miles west, and 3 miles north of Granite Falls. The tornado lifted before exiting Granite Falls, leaving the most concentrated damage path two miles long, and 500 feet wide, through a primarily residential area of Granite Falls. Most of the damage in Granite Falls was caused by F2 to F3 wind speeds. However, this tornado has been classified as a minimal F4 tornado, based on the twisted wreckage of an overturned railroad car near the intersection of 9th Avenue and 14th street in Granite Falls.

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5163249. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

F4 tornado in Yellow Medicine County, Minnesota

What the National Weather Service wrote

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

Tornadoes near your address