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F3 tornado in Watonwan County, Minnesota

Tornado August 1, 2006 · Watonwan County, Minnesota

F3
Rating
1.5 mi
Path length
440 yd
Path width
$2.0M
Damage as recorded
EF0EF1EF2EF3EF4EF5Unrated

The path drawn at its surveyed width of 440 yards (0.25 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

Initial damage occurred at farmstead just east of the Watonwan/Cottonwood line. Damage included the partial removal of roofs off two large sheds, along with scattered downed trees. The tornado then moved across corn and bean fields. Another farmstead was hit just southwest of the intersection of County Roads 10 and 2. This was the location of the F3 damage. A house was leveled, a 60 foot concrete base silo was toppled and rolled. Virtually all barns, sheds and outbuildings were completely destroyed.

Began near Butterfield (43.9000, -94.7167).

Other tornadoes from the same storm system

2 more tornadoes the National Weather Service filed under this storm episode.

F1 Watonwan CountyF1 Watonwan County

Source: NOAA Storm Events Database, event 5532792. Narratives are written by the National Weather Service forecast office that issued the report.

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