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F3 tornado in Beadle County, South Dakota

Tornado June 24, 2003 · Beadle County, South Dakota

Rating

3.5 mi

Path length

300 yd

Path width

$1.5M

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 300 yards (0.17 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

A tornado destroyed farm buildings and numerous trees, resulting in F3 damage southwest of Cavour. Homes and businesses within the town of Cavour were severely damaged (F2). Winds of 120 mph were measured by an anemometer on top of a grain elevator in Cavour.

Began near Cavour (44.3667, -98.0333).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5366744. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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