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F2 tornado in Howell County, Missouri

Tornado April 27, 2002 · Howell County, Missouri

F2
Rating
1.5 mi
Path length
100 yd
Path width
$1.5M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 100 yards (0.06 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.

The wider storm

An F2 tornado, plus associated destructive convergent winds around the tornadic circulation, caused extensive damage from 2 miles west of the Willow Springs Highway Patrol Headquarters, northeast to a mile and a half northeast of Willow Springs along Highway 378. Although the tornadic circulation was only 100 yards wide, it caused damage up to 300 yards wide. Large, century year old oak trees were uprooted throughout the area. West of the Willow Springs Highway Patrol Headquarters, a bass boat was thrown across two pastures and over two fences. A barn near this pasture was damaged. Troop G Headquarters had their 365' radio tower blown down. The tower landed on a home in the Hickory Hills Subdivision in Willow Springs. Four homes loss shingles and two homes completely lost their roofs. A church was rotated 45 degrees off its foundation and cemetery headstones were toppled. The worst damage occurred on a hilltop north of Willow Springs where a home was almost completely destroyed along with numerous outbuildings in a half mile area.

Began near Willow Spgs (37.0167, -91.9833).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5292311. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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