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F1 tornado in Blue Earth County, Minnesota

Tornado July 14, 2003 · Blue Earth County, Minnesota

F1
Rating
3.0 mi
Path length
220 yd
Path width
$500K
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 220 yards (0.12 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F1 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F1 meant moderate damage: roofs badly stripped, mobile homes pushed off foundations or overturned, windows broken; the scale paired it with winds of 73–112 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 fourth tornado in a series formed atop a bluff on the west side of the Le Sueur River valley, struck two homes down in the river valley, then moved back up the bluffs on the east side of the valley, where it snapped many trees and produced minor damage to some more houses, sheds and outbuildings. Videotaped by storm chasers.

Began near Rapidan (44.1167, -94.0500).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

F2 Blue Earth CountyF2 Blue Earth CountyF1 Blue Earth CountyF1 Blue Earth CountyF0 Brown CountyF0 Brown CountyF0 Waseca County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5329756. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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