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F2 tornado in Rice County, Minnesota

Tornado May 9, 2001 · Rice County, Minnesota

F2
Rating
12.0 mi
Whole path
50 yd
Path width
1
Injury
$20.0M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Rice County → Dakota County → Goodhue County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 50 yards (0.03 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F2 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F2 meant considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted; the scale paired it with winds of 113–157 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

NWS damage survey rated the tornado an F2. Tornado touched down briefly in downtown Northfield, flipping over a semi trailer truck and lifting the roof off of one business. Three-fourths mile later, it touched down again on the east side of Northfield, and then remained on the ground for 11 miles. After being in Rice County for 5 miles, it crossed Highway 19 into Dakota County and then dissipated in Goodhue County 4 miles west of Cannon Falls, for a total of 12 miles. Numerous rear flank downdraft gusts estimated at 90 mph caused damage alongside the southern periphery of tornado track. One man sustained minor injuries when he was blown from a tractor, but did not require hospitalization. A total of 8 homes received major damage, 22 more had minor damage, and a turkey processing plant was destroyed.

Began near Northfield (44.4667, -93.1667).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

8 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

F0 Sibley CountyF0 Sibley CountyF0 Scott CountyF0 Scott CountyF0 Scott CountyF0 Scott CountyF0 Rice CountyF0 Kanabec County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5250117. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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