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F4 tornado in Kingsbury County, South Dakota

Tornado June 24, 2003 · Kingsbury County, South Dakota

F4
Rating
10.4 mi
Whole path
1,000 yd
Path width
4
Injuries
$3.0M
Damage as recorded

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

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 1,000 yards (0.57 mi) — zoom in and the swath grows to true scale. Other tornadoes recorded nearby that day are shown faint.

What F4 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F4 meant devastating damage: well-built houses levelled; the scale paired it with winds of 207–260 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 tornado destroyed or heavily damaged all buildings, other structures, and vehicles in the small town of Manchester. Propane and fuel oil tanks were destroyed. Many homes were stripped to the foundation. Of the six residents of the town, four were injured and were transported to hospitals. Three were deemed to be seriously injured, but non of the injuries were life threatening. One of the injured was in a basement, one was blown out of the home on the way to the same basement, and two were in a mobile home which was destroyed. The tornado damaged crops, trees, and power lines south of Manchester prior to reaching the town. The tornado also heavily damaged several farms north of Manchester, including two farms on which several buildings including the homes were destroyed. One of the farms was a "Centennial Farm". About 12 cattle were killed and others injured. The amount of crop damage was not known. During its path, the tornado was observed to have multiple vortices. The tornado was observed and video taped by numerous storm chasers and researchers. Researchers also deployed weather sensors around the town of Manchester. One of these sensors recorded a 100 millibar pressure drop as the tornado passed.

Began near Esmond (44.2833, -97.7667).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5365780. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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