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F3 tornado in Kittson County, Minnesota

Tornado May 19, 2004 · Kittson County, Minnesota

Rating

1.5 mi

Path length

150 yd

Path width

$200K

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 150 yards (0.09 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

The tornado demolished 4 structures. One of the structures, a 30x40 foot machine shed, was swept from its foundation and thrown into the adjacent fields. Tools from the shed were driven into the banks of a nearby highway. Other debris was spread over a mile away. Many trees were torn up.

Began near Humboldt (48.9167, -97.0833).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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

F0 Kittson County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5401200. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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