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F3 tornado in Nelson County, North Dakota

Tornado July 18, 2001 · Nelson County, North Dakota

F3
Rating
5.0 mi
Path length
150 yd
Path width
$200K
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

A tornado hit the home of the Nelson county sheriff, who was out of town at the time. The tornado tore the roof off the house and destroyed the barn. A piece of farm machinery was thrown through the bedroom wall and a tractor was hurled 75 yards. The sheriff's squad car was crushed.

Began near Pekin (47.6833, -98.4500).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

F0 Pembina CountyF0 Nelson CountyF0 Griggs CountyF0 Griggs CountyF0 Griggs CountyF0 Nelson CountyF0 Griggs CountyF0 Nelson CountyF0 Nelson CountyF0 Steele CountyF0 Nelson CountyF0 Steele CountyF0 Nelson CountyF0 Griggs CountyF0 Grand Forks CountyF0 Grand Forks County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5261133. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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