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F2 tornado in Linn County, Iowa

Tornado July 20, 2003 · Linn County, Iowa

Rating

0.3 mi

Path length

200 yd

Path width

$2.0M

Damage as recorded

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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 F2 means. This tornado was rated on Fujita’s original scale, used until 2007. F2 meant considerable damage: roofs torn off well-built houses, mobile homes destroyed, large trees snapped or uprooted; the scale paired it with winds of 113–157 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

Strong F2...winds estimated at 140 mph.

The wider storm

Tornado touched down near the intersection of Zelda Drive and E Avenue Northwest. The tornado moved southeast for 0.25 miles across Peace Avenue and then lifted on Floral Avenue. The tornado reached peak intensity on Peace Avenue where F2 winds unroofed 3 homes, and 26 other homes were heavily damaged. This was the first tornado inside the Cedar Rapids city limits since 1965.

Began near Cedar Rapids (42.0000, -91.6500).

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5369067. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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