F3 tornado — Delaware County, Oklahoma

F3 tornado in Delaware County, Oklahoma

Tornado March 12, 2006 · Delaware County, Oklahoma

Rating

17.0 mi

Path length

440 yd

Path width

Injuries

$3.0M

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 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 first tornado, which touched down in northwestern Cherokee County, continued into southern Delaware County. Damage suggested the tornado widened and strengthened as it moved through southern Delaware County reaching a maximum width of around 1/4 of a mile. The tornado damaged 95 homes, destroying 42 of those homes. Five businesses were also damaged. Numerous trees were snapped or uprooted and about 100 power poles were downed, which resulted in more than 5000 people losing power as a result of the storm. The worst damage from this tornado was found from near Twin Oaks to about 4 miles west-southwest of Colcord. The tornado injured eight people.

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5494328. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

F3 tornado in Delaware County, Oklahoma

What the National Weather Service wrote

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

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