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F0 tornado in Alfalfa County, Oklahoma

Tornado April 18, 2002 · Alfalfa County, Oklahoma

F0
Rating
0.8 mi
Path length
75 yd
Path width
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 75 yards (0.04 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F0 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F0 meant light damage: shingles and siding peeled, gutters torn, branches broken; the scale paired it with winds of 40–72 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 Cherokee Police Department observed this brief tornado south of Cherokee with no known damage.

The wider storm

Numerous severe thunderstorms were observed over western Oklahoma during the afternoon and evening of the 17th and early morning of the 18th. Four tornadoes were confirmed, and there were several reports of very large hail, even one report of softball size hail (4.5 inches in diameter). The tornadoes were at night with the largest tornado, believed to be up to one mile wide, causing a maximum of F2 damage over a 34 mile path across northwest Oklahoma. Another tornado resulted in F3 damage.

Began near Cherokee (36.7000, -98.3500).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

F3 Woodward CountyF2 Woods CountyF2 Alfalfa CountyF1 Beckham CountyF0 Major County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5287608. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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