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F3 tornado in Webster County, Kentucky

Tornado April 28, 2002 · Webster County, Kentucky

F3
Rating
22.0 mi
Whole path
880 yd
Path width
26
Injuries
$16.9M
Damage as recorded

NOAA records this tornado county by county. Its path ran through Crittenden County → Webster County → Hopkins County; the totals above are for the whole tornado.

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The path drawn at its surveyed width of 880 yards (0.50 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

The tornado crossed southern Webster County, producing major damage as it paralleled Highway 120 through Providence. About two dozen persons were injured, and they were transported by ambulance to regional hospitals. One person was critically injured. The tornado produced F-3 damage in Providence, then weakened to an F-2 tornado just east of the city limits. The tornado struck a mobile home park in Providence, destroying 16 of the 20 mobile homes there. About 10 permanent homes were destroyed, and about 100 more homes were damaged.

Began near Providence (37.4000, -87.8500).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5292584. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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