Evansville Tornado (2005): path map, rating and deaths

Evansville Tornado (2005)

Tornado November 6, 2005 · Henderson County, Kentucky

Rating

41.3 mi

Whole path

400 yd

Path width

Deaths

238

Injuries

$87.3M

Damage as recorded

EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 400 yards (0.23 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 that would cause mass casualties in the Evansville, Indiana area crossed the Ohio River a second time. This second crossing was from Vanderburgh County, Indiana into Henderson County. The tornado then crossed the river a third time less than a mile west of the U.S. Highway 41 twin bridges. The river does not form the state line at the third crossing. From the bridges, extensive tree damage was visible along both sides of the Ohio River. Almost immediately after crossing the river, the tornado slammed into a horse racing facility named Ellis Park. There was extensive damage to grandstands and housing facilities for jockeys. A few race horses were killed. This facility was the first major facility to be impacted by the tornado. All of the Henderson County tornado injuries were at Ellis Park. The tornado then crossed back into Vanderburgh County, Indiana after striking Ellis Park.

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5480521. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

Evansville Tornado (2005)

What the National Weather Service wrote

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