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F1 tornado in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

Tornado November 18, 2003 · Tuscaloosa County, Alabama

F1
Rating
6.3 mi
Path length
100 yd
Path width
2
Injuries
$100K
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 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

A weak tornado began at approximately 11:47 am CST just northeast of the intersection of Interstate 359 and 20/59. For the first 1.7 miles, damage was very weak and sporadic with mainly a few trees topped or uprooted. As the weak tornado approached University Mall and the intersection of 15th Street and McFarland Boulevard, the intensity increased slightly with more significant damage in the form of shingles removed, more trees downed, and large signs downed. A number of commercial structures sustained some damage, and one commercial structure had a portion of a north-facing wall collapse while shingles were removed from the roof. The increased intensity continued for about 2.3 miles covering the area southwest and northeast of the 15th Street/McFarland Bouldevard intersection. The damage seemed to once again decrease for the last 2.3 miles of the tornado track. Only two very minor injuries were reported with the storm.Beg: 33 10.276/87 32.977 End: 33 14.534/87 28.843

Began near Tuscaloosa (33.1667, -87.5500).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5335845. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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