Home / South Dakota / Sanborn

F3 tornado in Sanborn County, South Dakota

Tornado June 24, 2003 · Sanborn County, South Dakota

Rating

5.0 mi

Path length

500 yd

Path width

$500K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

NOAA recorded where this tornado touched down but not where it lifted, so it appears as a point. 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

A tornado, crossing into Sanborn County from Jerauld County, destroyed or severely damaged several buildings on two farms. The tornado lifted the roof off a house. Another farmhouse had windows blown out, and shingles and aluminum siding torn off. Destroyed buildings included a barn, garage, outbuildings, and other small structures. Vehicles inside the destroyed garage were damaged. The tornado also caused tree, power line, and crop damage.

Began near Woonsocket (44.0000, -98.3333).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

1 more tornado the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

F1 Jerauld County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5366601. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Tornadoes near your address

See every tornado that passed near a place you know, measured to its path.